


Run To You

by HarlequinAngel



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Alternate Universe, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt Alec Lightwood, M/M, Mundane Alec Lightwood, Mundane Magnus Bane, Non-Graphic Violence, POV Magnus Bane, Past Relationship(s), Protective Magnus Bane, Supportive Isabelle Lightwood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:02:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29026161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarlequinAngel/pseuds/HarlequinAngel
Summary: Magnus spots a gorgeous guy on his regular morning runs and realises its time to put himself back out there and go after what he wants.
Relationships: Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood
Comments: 33
Kudos: 115





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a multi-chaptered fic, not sure how many yet, I have the first few written and will try to update weekly. I have most of the plot worked out, but it may deviate as I write, who knows what meandering path I will take to get there. There will be smut in later chapters, that I can be sure of ;)  
> Not beta'd.  
> Feedback, comments, questions or concerns always appreciated!

** 1. **

It was a cool April morning, spring was finally in the air, the only reminder that winter hadn’t quite relinquished its grip was the biting chill from the wind that whipped down the avenues of New York City.

Magnus loved mornings like this, feeling the icy air smacking against his face as he ran, it made him feel so alive. He had recently changed up the route for his morning run, as he was wont to do every couple of months. He liked to change things up once in a while –there was only so many times you could run the same route without getting a little bored.

His absolute favourite thing about this latest path was the tall, dark and handsome man that he had spotted on his first morning, who he seemed to cross paths with at the same point of his run every day. The guy was literal sex on legs, tall – almost as tall as Magnus - pale skin, slightly flushed from exertion, lean tight body (just the way Magnus liked) and to top it off the man had the most beautiful eyes Magnus, a piercing blue unlike anything he'd ever seen. Magnus was gone from the first time he laid eyes on him.

Magnus had decided today was the day to change things up a little bit, to see if he could get the guys attention. Of course he had noticed the guys eyes flicker in his direction once or twice, and his gaydar was rarely wrong, but today he was going to find out for certain if the guy was interested. Or at least, he was going to try…

There was a small area that was set slightly back from the main path where there are benches for sitting and relaxing, so Magnus left his apartment 5 minutes early that morning so that when the dark haired beauty’s morning run intersected with Magnus’, Magnus would be stopped to stretch out his tight muscles, and give a little bit of a show at just how flexible he is. Magnus couldn’t keep the grin off his face, excited at the thought of the guy potentially getting a glorious eyeful of Magnus.

Magnus approached the seating area, slowing his pace a little, before stopping beside one of the benches underneath a tall tree. He brought his foot up to rest on the bench, reaching forward with both arms to grab his foot with both hands, stretching out his leg and back, making sure his butt was on full display. He then repeated the move with the other foot, glancing up occasionally to keep an eye out for his man. Once his legs were done, he joined his hands together over his head, his light jacket and shirt riding up a little as he did so, he gave his arm muscles a stretch, then leaned forward and touched the ground between his slightly spread legs, before stretching up again and leaning backwards this time, revealing a patch of his golden-bronze, very toned stomach. 

From the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure appear around the corner a little further up the path, ‘Showtime!’ Magnus thought to himself. He stepped around the bench to the tree behind, the one that he was going to use to support himself for his next move. Making sure that he was facing the direction the dark haired man was approaching from, and ensuring that he would get a good view, Magnus lifted up his left thigh, using his hand to support as he turned a little and straightened his leg out –above his head – and leaned it up against the tree, basically doing the splits, but upright! Ensuring his right leg was planted securely he leaned in nonchalantly with both arms reaching up to his foot, and his head curving in almost touching his shin, he surreptitiously glanced up and to the side to see if anyone in particular had happened to notice his move. It didn’t appear that his man had spotted him yet, so Magnus gracefully lowered his raised leg, pivoted a little then repeated the same maneouvre with his other leg, he would swear that the guy stumbled just a little in his pace when Magnus’ movement caught his attention, and he flicked his eyes over just in time to see the man’s eyes rake over Magnus’ body. Magnus smiled to himself, then lowered his leg once the guy had passed by, turning around to finish his stretches, just in time to see the guy quickly adjust his head forward as he had definitely been looking over his shoulder whilst still running, to continue checking Magnus out. Magnus grinned to himself, considering his plan a success, dude was definitely not straight. Now he just needed to find the right moment to ask the guy out…


	2. 2.

** 2. **

For the next couple of days Magnus would reach the benched area a couple of minutes ahead of dark haired guy, and use the opportunity to stretch out his muscles. After the second day, tall & dark began to stop at the other end of the seating area and do some stretching too, each of them surreptitiously glancing at each other, checking each other out whilst the other wasn’t looking. Then Magnus would throw a flirty smile in hot guy’s direction and then continue on with his run.

After almost a week of this, Magnus decided that the next day he was going to approach the guy, talk to him, and maybe even ask for his number? Magnus was not shy usually, in the past he wouldn’t hesitate when it came to approaching someone he was attracted to and just asking them out. But that was Magnus BC (Before Camille) before that bitch destroyed him, tore his heart and his self-worth to shreds. Magnus hadn’t put himself out there in a long time, hadn’t opened his heart to anyone in more than 2 years, but he finally felt ready to start. Or at least try. There was something about this gorgeous guy, a look in his eye that spoke volumes of his character, something that told Magnus that he would be safe with him, and Magnus wanted that more than anything.

The next morning, Magnus was first to arrive at what he now considered ‘their’ spot, but the guy never showed, Magnus was a little disappointed, he had been running a little late this morning, but he still figured they would’ve crossed paths at some point. After a few more minutes of stretching, and another glance around, he decided to continue on with his run, the spring now missing from his step.

As he rounded the curve in the path, he stopped suddenly, his brain trying to make sense of what his eyes were seeing. Hot guy was being crowded by a shorter guy, who was wearing a hood pulled up to obscure most of his features, hot guys arms were held out in front of him as though he were trying to placate the smaller man. A pang of fear shot through Magnus, the situation didn’t look immediately dangerous, but the short guy definitely gave off a threatening vibe. Magnus started moving again, slowly, getting closer, to gauge if help was required. He could hear raised voices, and it seemed like the two men knew each other? Though Magnus couldn’t say exactly what it was that gave him that impression. Then everything happened so quickly; one of the smaller man’s arms moved abruptly, Magnus thought he caught a flash of silver, before the tall guy dropped to his knees and the smaller man punched him squarely in the face, causing him to fall backwards to the ground. 


	3. 3.

** 3. **

Magnus’ instincts kicked in, and he yelled “Hey!” as his legs propelled him towards the fallen man. The younger man’s head jerked up at Magnus’ shout, and he saw a pale, pointed face with grey eyes glare at him, and dirty blond hair sticking out around the hood, before the man turned and bolted away. Magnus grabbed his phone, still running towards the scene and tried to take a couple of pictures of the attacker’s retreating form, knowing they probably wouldn’t be of any use, before quickly dialing 911.

Magnus dropped to his knees beside the injured man, tapping his cheek slightly to judge his alertness. The man’s eyes fluttered a little, “Hey,” Magnus said quietly, “Can you hear me?” The man groaned quietly, before opening his eyes ever so slightly. It looked as though the man may have hit his head pretty hard when he was punched to the ground, his one eye was already starting to swell up, and he had a cut on his eyebrow. 

When the 911 operator answered he quickly explained the situation, and told them what entrance to the park was the best and most direct way to get to them.

When the man’s eyes fell shut again, Magnus tapped his cheek again a little harder, “Hey, you need to stay awake, you might have a concussion,” Magnus tried asking him some questions to keep him awake, “Do you have a name?”

A corner of the man’s mouth turned up a little, probably thinking ‘Of course I have a name,’ but he only mumbled out “Ale…” before trailing off. 

“Ale-xander?” Magnus asked, trying to fill in the blank space, the man half-nodded, half-mumbled his assent. “Is there anyone I can call for you? Someone to meet you at the hospital?” Magnus asked.

“Iss…bell..” was the slurred response.

“Isabel?” Magnus repeated.

“M’ sis..ter..” Alexander confirmed.

Magnus was getting worried that the guy was struggling so much to respond, even with a concussion and the blow to the head, he shouldn’t be having this much trouble staying awake. It wasn’t until Magnus did a quick scan of the man – Alexander’s - body, that he saw something glistening wetly against the black of his running gear. Fear struck Magnus once again, he suddenly remembered the flash of silver that he’d seen fleetingly before Alexander fell to his knees. With shaking hands, he unzipped the lightweight jacket, slowly peeling the layers open, underneath was a black shirt with a 4-inch slash through it, and blood was steadily pulsing out. Magnus gripped the edge of the shirt to pull it up and inspect the damage, none of his bowels were pushing out of the hole so that was a good sign at least. It was hard to tell with all the blood, but it didn’t look like it was too deep, more of a slash wound than a stab, so hopefully not too much internal damage Magnus thought to himself, he was definitely going to have a scar though. Magnus deftly removed his own jacket, wadding it up and immediately putting pressure on the wound, causing Alexander to groan in pain. “I’m sorry,” Magnus whispered, “but I need to put pressure on your wound, you are losing a lot of blood.” Alexander grunted again, this time in understanding. Magnus had one more question for him, “Where’s your phone?” Alexander’s hand twitched in a small gesture, indicating broadly at the hip area of his pants.

Just then a woman appeared, shrieking “Oh my god, what happened? Can I help?” She appeared to also be on a run, considering her attire.

“I already called 911, paramedics are on their way. Can you meet them at the East Gate and bring them right to this spot?” Magnus pleaded. The woman nodded her assent and shot off in the direction of the East Gate. Magnus breathed a sigh of relief, one of his concerns was the paramedics finding them in a timely manner, it was a big park after all, and now with the discovery of the knife wound… Magnus began to panic, he’d only told the operator about the head wound, as he hadn’t discovered the bleeding until afterwards, what if they hadn’t made his call a priority? Alexander groaned again, snapping Magnus out of his spiral. “Alexander, are you still with me?” Another groan came in response. “The paramedics are on their way, they’ll be here soon and they will take great care of you.” He tried to reassure Alexander, “I just need you to stay awake until they get here. Can you do that for me?”

Alexander mumbled something in response, Magnus took that as a good sign, at least he was still responding to Magnus. He heard another mumble, so Magnus leaned closer, maybe Alexander was actually trying to say something?

“Na…me,” Magnus’ brow furrowed, ‘Name?’ he thought to himself. “Oh! My name?” he said aloud, Alexander jerked his head a little in confirmation, “I’m Magnus, Magnus Bane.”

“Mag…nuss…” Alexander repeated slowly, “pre…ty…na..me,” he trailed off.

“Hey, hey, don’t fall asleep on me,” Magnus responded with an edge to his voice. “Let me see those beautiful blue eyes,” he whispered, leaning closer to Alexander’s face and trailing the fingers of his free hand down Alexander’s cheek. Blue eyes flickered open slowly, gaze still a tad unfocused, when Magnus heard a commotion in the distance, he looked up and saw with relief the female runner from earlier with 2 paramedics in tow, wheeling the stretcher behind them.

“Help has arrived Alexander,” Magnus whispered with relief, before remembering he had told Alexander he would call his sister, he slipped his hand into the indicated pants pocket and removed Alexander’s phone before slipping it into his own pocket, all the while trying to maintain pressure on the knife wound. 

Once the paramedics reached them, Magnus filled them in on what he’d seen and observed, and they took over the scene. Stepping back to let them work, Magnus felt himself begin to tremble, the combination of shock and adrenaline turning him into a quivering wreck. Taking a breath to centre himself, he pulled out Alexander’s phone, and navigated his way to the contact list. He scrolled until he found the name he was looking for – Isabelle – and hit the call button.

“Alec, this better be important waking me up this early,” a tired, grumpy voice sounded on the other end of the line.

“Is this Isabelle?” Magnus asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

Isabelle’s voice changed in a second, now wide awake and alert, “Who is this? Where is Alec?” the tinge of panic in her voice was clear.

“My name is Magnus, your brother….” He paused, not quite knowing how to say what he needed to say, “um… there was an… incident. Alexander was injured, and is being taken to the hospital,” he finished, not wanting to give too much detail on the phone, but trying to convey the seriousness of what had occurred.

A sob sounded from the receiver, “Is…is he okay?” Isabelle managed to get out.

Magnus closed his eyes and took another deep breath, trying to keep his own emotions at bay, “I don’t know…”he whispered in response, “he was still mostly conscious so that is a good sign….’”he trailed off, seeing the paramedics had loaded him onto the gurney and were getting ready to move him. “I’m going to go to the hospital with him, they are getting ready to transport him now.”

“Which hospital?” was Isabelle’s rushed response.  
  
Magnus called over to the paramedics, “What hospital are you taking him to?” and relayed the response to Isabelle.  
  
“I’ll meet you there,” was her reply before the call abruptly ended.

Magnus followed the paramedics as they wheeled Alexander to the park entrance and the waiting ambulance. Once he was loaded, Magnus climbed in beside him, grabbing his nearest hand and holding on tight.

This was not how he had expected his morning to play out…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do struggle with formatting/phrasing to make speech between characters flow smoothly, sorry if it's a little disjointed.


	4. 4.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, Magnus meets the gang.
> 
> As always, feedback, comments, questions, suggestions all welcome:)  
> Still unbeta'd.  
> I don't own any of these characters, just borrowing them for my own amusement.

**4.**

Upon arrival at the hospital, Magnus was directed to a waiting area, and that is what he was currently doing - Waiting - for news on Alexander’s condition, for Isabelle to show up, just waiting.

An interminable amount of time later, he heard a cacophony of voices and loud footsteps, echoing from the hallway that led to the waiting room. 

Through the open doorway spilled a small group of worried-looking people. In the front of the group was a slim, dark haired girl, with deep brown eyes, worry and fear marring her beautiful brow. As soon as she looked at Magnus, he knew – this was Alexander’s sister. She had the same pale skin and striking features. She was striding towards him with a determined look on her face, “Are you Magnus?” she asked, before faltering in her stride when she caught sight of the blood on his hands and clothes.  
  
Magnus nodded his head, shifting his gaze to the floor, unable to speak around the lump in his throat. “Is he okay?” A voice piped up from behind Isabelle; the guy was the same height as Isabelle, but had a more golden complexion and blonde hair – he didn’t look like he was related to Alexander or Isabelle. 

Magnus looked around at the pale faces staring at him, and gestured towards the empty seats surrounding them, “If you’ll sit I’ll tell you what I know, but there have been no updates since they brought him in,” worry clear in his tone.

Everyone quickly found seats, Isabelle sat down right beside him, a hand on his arm, whether for comfort or support or just something to hold onto, he wasn’t sure, but he appreciated it nonetheless.

“So, um,” he began, not exactly knowing where to start, “I was out for my morning run in the park,” he continued, gesturing down at his outfit of track pants and running shoes, “I cross paths with your brother most mornings, around the same point in my run, so I recognized him immediately today when I saw him…” Magnus trailed off once again, reliving the moment when he came around the corner and saw Alexander being…attacked? Threatened? Whatever it was – the feeling of fear when he saw Alexander go down….

Magnus cleared his throat, looking around at the expectant faces surrounding him, before focusing back on Isabelle, “There was a man, shorter than Alexander, black hoody pulled all the way up, obscuring his face, he was moving in a… threatening manner towards your brother, I saw a quick movement and then Alexander dropped to his knees. The guy punched him in the face, and Alexander fell back, sprawling on the ground. I yelled at the man, part of me thought that he was going to… keep going with the attack, even though Alexander was already injured on the ground, the man looked up at me and… glared, like he was mad that I had interrupted him…or something, then he turned tail and ran.” He thought he saw Isabelle and the blonde man exchange a look at that point, but continued on with his story.

“I grabbed my phone and tried taking a couple of pics of the guy as I ran over to where Alexander had fallen, realizing it was probably futile as he was running away with his back to me. I called 911, and stayed with Alexander trying to keep him awake, he looked concussed probably from the double hits to the head, one from the punch and the other from hitting the ground hard,” Magnus paused again, taking another breath, it was hard re-living it when he hadn’t fully processed everything that had happened, and being the one to tell Alexander’s family… it was overwhelming.

Clearing his throat again, since it felt like it kept trying to close up on him, he forged on, “I tried talking to him to keep him focused and conscious, but he was having a hard time, I managed to get his name and I asked if I could call anyone for him and he said your name,” Magnus continued, looking up into Isabelle’s eyes.

“I couldn’t understand why he was having such a hard time staying conscious, that’s when I looked down and saw the blood…” he heard a few gasps around him, but he kept his eyes focused on Isabelle, “he was wearing all black so I didn’t notice it at first, that’s when I remembered the flash of silver I had seen before Alexander went down.” His eyes dropping down to look at his hands, for the first time realizing they were covered in Alexander’s blood…. “I opened his jacket to see the wound, it didn’t look too deep – more of a slash, than a stab wound, so perhaps there will be not to much damage to his internal organs…. But, there was so much blood….” He trailed off, staring at his blood stained hands, seeing them begin to tremble, he felt the tears building behind his eyes, when he was suddenly enveloped in a crushing hug. 

Isabelle had watched Magnus begin to shake, saw the tears about to fall from his eyes and her natural instincts to comfort took over. This man had potentially saved her brother’s life, and seemed to be just as upset as she and her family were over her brother. “Thank you,” she whispered into Magnus’ hair, “for saving him.”

Magnus felt a sob trying to make it’s way out of his throat, but pushed the urge down, swallowing hard. Once Isabelle had released him, he took a few seconds to compose himself, before excusing himself to the washroom. He needed to get the blood off his hands, now.

-

Trying to remove bloodstains in a public washroom was easier said than done. No matter how much he rubbed his hands with soap and water, he couldn’t get all of the rusty stains out from under or around his nails, or from the callouses on his fingers. He could feel himself getting more frantic, more panicked, the more he scrubbed and the blood stubbornly stayed.

Magnus felt his breathing growing more erratic and tears begin to burn his eyes before he gave in, leaning over the sink and letting out a sob. Once the first drop had fallen from his eyes, the tears kept on flowing, he didn’t know why this was affecting him so much – maybe he was in shock from witnessing such a sickening event? Or feeling guilty for not being able to prevent it?

He sighed, shaking his head, before looking at himself in the mirror, finally having got his breathing and tears under control. He looked a wreck, his eyes were red and puffy – fortunately he didn’t have any make-up on, he tended to skip it, knowing it would just slide off his face when he went running and got all sweaty – before realizing that there was blood on his face and neck too, not a lot, but he must have touched his face at some point with his bloody hands. That triggered another bout of furious scrubbing and a few more tears, before he heard the door of the washroom open.

Magnus splashed some cold water on his face, trying to compose himself before coming face to face with a stranger. It was the blonde guy from before, “You ok?” he asked Magnus. Catching his eye in the mirror, Magnus managed a brief, stilted nod, affirming that yes he was ok.

The man came closer, leaning against one of the other sinks, looking at Magnus side on, “You sure?” was the disbelieving response. Magnus chuckled wryly at that, glancing over to meet the man’s golden eyes. Everything about him was golden – skin, hair, eyes. ‘What unusual colouring,’ Magnus thought to himself.

Magnus glanced back down at his hands, “I can’t get it off,” he choked out. The man looked down at the blood still caught under his polish-free nails, and understood what Magnus had meant. The man put his hands over Magnus’, “It will come off, just try not to look at it right now. Come back out and wait with the rest of us,” he said tugging Magnus away from the sink, dropping his hands and walking out, expecting Magnus to follow. Pausing for a second, Magnus took a breath and walked out a couple of steps behind the golden man.

All eyes were on him as he re-joined the waiting group, taking his previous seat beside Isabelle. “Still no update?” he asked, already knowing the answer. 

“Nothing yet,” was Isabelle’s reply, “maybe soon?” she whispered, hope in her voice.

Magnus gave a strained half-smile, which fell from his face the second he looked down at his hands again. This time, it was Isabelle’s hands that covered his own, “Hey, he’s going to be ok. I know my brother, he’s a fighter,” she smiled softly at Magnus, whose had raised his gaze back up to her eyes again.

“You look a lot like him,” Magnus commented, causing Isabelle to roll her eyes, which surprised a chuckle from Magnus. “You don’t think so?”

“Oh no, I do, I’ve just heard that a lot in my life!” she responded, dryly.

Magnus flushed and looked down again, with a mumbled “Sorry.”  
  
“It’s perfectly okay Magnus, we are both gorgeous after all,” she chuckled. 

Magnus glanced up in surprise, upon seeing Isabelle had a huge grin on her face, he breathed a little sigh of relief. 

“I guess I should do some introductions,” Isabelle realized, “As you already know, I am Alec’s sister, over there” she gestured to the golden man, “is my brother Jace, beside him with the red hair is his girlfriend Clary,” Clary gave a soft smile and a small wave, which Magnus returned, “and that,” she gestured to the dark haired man with glasses, who was sitting a little apart from Jace and Clary “is Simon,” she finished with an unreadable smile. Simon nodded his head in acknowledgment. Magnus didn’t ask her to clarify exactly _who_ Simon was. 


	5. 5.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An update on Alec.
> 
> Un-beta'd.  
> I don't own these characters :(

**5**

An hour had passed since Alexander’s family had arrived, still without any updates on his condition, when something kicked in to Magnus’ brain – he should probably call work to let them know he wouldn’t be in today, there was no way he was going to be functional for the rest of the day.

Excusing himself to make a call, he pulled out his phone out of his pocket, seeing it was still early and that Ragnor would not be in for at least another hour, he pulled up the number to the office. “Good Morning, thanks for calling the Angel Institute, how may I direct your call?” Came the cheerful voice on the other end of the line.

“Good Morning Maia, it’s Magnus. Can you please let Ragnor and the team know that I won’t be in today, and that I’ll call Ragnor to fill him in as soon as I can?” Magnus asked the receptionist.

“Of course I can do that, Magnus, no problem. Just take care and I’ll talk to you soon?” was Maia’s response, ever the professional, though Magnus could hear concern in her voice. Never once in the 3 years he had worked there had he ever missed a day’s work, and Maia who had worked there for longer was well aware of his perfect track record.

“Thank you,” Magnus replied, before disconnecting the call.

He returned to the waiting area, sitting down with a sigh.

Another hour passed, slowly and painfully. All of them lost in their own thoughts. He looked over at Isabel, when he heard her make a small sound, just as a doctor appeared at the opposite end of the room. She had seen him approaching before he had even noticed any movement. They all sat up straighter in their seats, except for Isabelle who was immediately on her feet and heading straight for the surgeon. 

“My brother? Alec Lightwood – is he ok?” the words rushed out of Isabelle.

“You are all family?” the doctor asked in response.

“Yes, we are all family and friends. I am his next of kin. Please tell me what’s going on! Is he ok? Can we see him now?” Isabelle’s voice was urgent, a mix of frustration and fear.

“Mr Lightwood suffered a puncture to his large intestine, meaning we had to operate to try to repair it. We were able to remove the damaged section, and reconnect the remaining tissue. Once he is healed there should be no long term effects. He also suffered some head trauma that has caused swelling to his brain, which we need to monitor. He will be kept under sedation for the next 24-48 hours, or until the swelling starts to reduce. You can go in 2 at a time to see him, but keep the visits short. He is being currently being moved to his own room, a nurse will come and get you when he is set up.”

“Thank you doctor,” came a chorus from the small group who had heard every word. The doctor nodded, then turned and headed back in the direction he came.

Isabelle turned to Jace, who had stood up while the doctor was talking and was walking towards her with his arms open, they hugged each other tightly, Isabelle letting out a small sound, a mixture of relief and worry. It was positive news that Alec’s surgery had gone well, however the concern for any potential damage to his brain, and the fact that he wasn’t awake yet, was distressing.

Magnus was relieved to hear that the abdominal wound hadn’t been life-threatening, but was also concerned about Alexander’s head injury. He knew that the confusion and slurring had been worse than just a concussion, but hadn’t considered that it could be brain damage. Magnus let his head drop, holding his face with his hands, taking a few deep breaths. At this rate he was going to have to take up yoga or meditation or something considering all the deep breathing he had been partaking in over the last few hours. . 

Shortly afterwards, a nurse came to let them know that Alec was in room 203 and that they could go in to see him. She told them not to be alarmed upon seeing him hooked up to the ventilator, IV and various other monitoring machines, they were all standard after someone had gone through and was being sedated. Isabelle choked down a sob, and grabbed Jace’s hand, holding on tightly. Being family, it was unspoken but naturally assumed by everyone that they would be the first two to go in. Heading down the hallway, hands still laced tightly together, the pair followed the nurse towards Alec. Clary and Simon got up to follow a few seconds later, moving behind from a distance, deciding wordlessly that they would move their little vigil closer to Alec’s room.

Clary paused as they passed Magnus, looking down at his slumped posture, his head still in his hands, “Are you coming?” she asked quietly, “We are going to find a spot closer to his room,” she finished.

Magnus took a second to respond, he looked up at Clary smiling faintly, “No, I… You go on ahead,” not sure why he was hesitant about going with them, feeling like he had already stayed longer than he should have. He didn’t know Alec, not really, he’d made sure to get him to the hospital, notified his family, and it sounded like he was going to be ok. So why was he even still here?

“Ok, you know where to find us,” Clary replied with a friendly smile, before she started moving again, catching up with Simon who had stopped a few paces ahead.

Once they were out of sight, Magnus stood up abruptly, suddenly needing to be as far away from this hospital as he possibly could. 

He made his way as quickly as possible out of the front doors and onto the street, stuck his arm out to hail a taxi, jumped in and barked his address. The only thing he could think about was getting home to his shower and to scrub every trace of blood off his skin and toss his blood stained clothes in the garbage.


	6. 6.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus overthinks

Magnus must have spent a good half an hour in the shower, it took ten minutes alone, with a nail brush and a nail file, trying to scrape the remnants of blood from his hands. Once they were finally clean, he stood under the spray letting the hot jets beat down on him, trying to remove every last vestige of the morning from his mind and soul, when that didn’t work, he was at least happy that some of the tension from his shoulders had disappeared, after the hours of worrying and waiting he had spent that morning.

Only now that he was home and clean and a modicum more relaxed, had he begun to feel a little guilty about leaving the hospital without telling anyone that he was going. To be honest, other than being the Good Samaritan who had helped their brother and friend, who was he to any of them? They would be more focused on standing vigil around Alexander’s sick bed, to even notice he was gone.  
  
Though, he did really want to know if Alexander was going to be ok.  
  
There was still a pang in his chest when he thought about seeing the man’s form, pale and bleeding on the ground. Magnus scrunched his eyes shut, trying to block out the memory, but he knew it was one that he would see on repeat often for the foreseeable future.

Maybe he should go back to the hospital in a couple of hours? There might be an update on his condition by then? It was at that moment Magnus realized that he had no way of contacting Isabelle, so the only way he was going to get any information would be to go back anyway. 

Deciding that going back to the hospital this evening would be the best course of action, he resolved to trying to get in a couple of hours of sleep. Exhaustion was slowly wrapping its way around his body and mind, after the early start to the day with his morning run and then the adrenaline of all the events that had followed…. He couldn’t believe it wasn’t even noon yet, he felt like he’d been up for days.

The water beginning to run cold, Magnus stepped out of the shower, wrapping himself in one of his huge fluffy towels, before heading to his wardrobe to find something comfortable to slip into. There wasn’t many times that Magnus opted for comfort over design when it came to his clothing, but for right now he just wanted to feel at ease. He settled on a pair of soft silk pyjama pants (still stylish, yet luxuriously comfortable,) and wrapped himself up in a soft, oversized robe and pushed his feet into his slippers. He was heading to the kitchen to make himself a relaxing cup of tea, when he spied the pile of clothes that he had hurriedly discarded the second he had crossed the threshold of his apartment.

Taking a deep breath – seriously, meditation was sounding better by the second - he made his way over to the foyer, and with a shaking hand bent down to retrieve his clothes. He was serious when he had decided they were going in the garbage, for one thing, he knew the bloodstains would never come out of his white shirt, and second - there was no way he was going to be able to look at these clothes again without remembering the horrible events of the day.

He stuck his hand in the pockets to grab his wallet and phone, before bundling the fabric up to take to the garbage in the kitchen, when he felt a thud beside his foot.  
  
Alexander’s phone!  
  
Magnus realized it had fallen from his other pocket, just missing his toes. He had entirely forgotten that he still had it. He should’ve given it to Isabelle, but after he had made the call to her, he had slipped it into his pocket and promptly forgotten it was even there.

He bent down to pick up the phone, at least now he had a way to contact Isabelle. Though he would feel kind of weird messaging her from her brother’s phone (her brother who was basically in a coma,) never mind the fact that it would feel like some kind of invasion of privacy using someone else’s phone like that.  
  
‘Maybe I could just take Isabelle’s number from Alexander’s phone. That would be less weird, right?’ Magnus questioned to himself. Though it would still feel weird taking the woman’s phone number from her unconscious brother’s phone, there was really no other way around it. In the end that was exactly what Magnus decided to do. Making his way to the kitchen he tossed his stained clothes in to the garbage can, made himself a cup of tea and sat down to send a message to Isabelle.

-

 _Hi Isabelle, it’s Magnus. I just wanted to apologize for leaving without saying anything. It all got to be a bit too much_ \- Magnus stopped typing, deleting the last part.

_Hi Isabelle, it’s Magnus. I apologize for leaving without saying goodbye earlier. I also forgot that I still had Alec’s phone. If it’s ok with you I will drop by the hospital later this evening to return it. Has there been any change in his condition?_

Magnus sat and thought about what else to say for a second longer, before hurriedly hitting send, placing his phone face down on the table and grabbing his mug with both hands, taking a long sip of tea and enjoying the warmth of it in both of his hands as well as the soothing glide down his throat, warming his insides too.

It took only a few minutes for Isabelle to respond;

_Oh Magnus, please drop by! When Clary told me you were gone, I was worried. Still no change with Alec, it’s only been a couple of hours, and we are all optimistic. He is in room 203, visiting hours are open til 8pm, not that we are going anywhere mind you! We are staying right here until he wakes up._

Magnus responded quickly;  
_I will send you a message when I’m on my wa. I’m going to try to get a couple of hours sleep. If there are any changes please call or text me, I’d really appreciate it. Thank you. See you in a couple of hours._

_Isabelle;_  
_For sure I will let you know if there’s any improvement. Thanks again for everything you did today for my brother. Sleep well Magnus x_

Magnus felt his bottom lip tremble while reading Isabelle’s last message, he bit down sharply on his lip, the bite of pain stopping any tears before they could come.

Magnus picked up his phone and made his way to the comfort of his bedroom, hoping sleep would claim him quickly.

-

It didn’t.

He lay there, fidgeting often. Trying to get comfortable, he pulled his duvet up and bundled it around himself, cocooning himself in. He felt like a child, swaddled in his covers. He was physically comfortable, he really did feel exhausted, but it was his mind that just.wouldn’t.stop. 

It was like all of the worst parts of today (which to be honest, was most of today) kept playing in a loop, and his brain kept offering up horrible ideas – What if he’d been on time today? What if he hadn’t taken those couple extra minutes stretching and waiting for Alexander to show? Would he have been able to stop what happened? Or at least been closer, to stop the guy before he hurt Alexander? 

What if he’d been too late? The guy could have done so much worse to Alec – Magnus saw that in the man’s eyes; he wanted to hurt him, even when Alexander was down on the ground injured, he wanted to do worse! Oh god, how much worse could it have been? Magnus shut down on that train of thought, not wanting to even entertain worse things happening to such a beautiful man. A man whose family and friends love him so much, they dropped everything to be by his bedside when he was injured.  


Magnus smiled softly, thinking of Alexander and how his loving siblings and supportive friends were there in a heartbeat, staying by his side. He must be a good person.

With a groan, Magnus was resigned to the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to get any sleep, so he reached over to grab his phone from the nightstand. It was almost 1.30pm, Ragnor would be on lunch, so Magnus figured now would be a good a time as any to call and fill him in on the events of the day.

“Magnus! Is everything ok? I was worried when I got your message,” Ragnor answered his phone, skipping any pleasantries.

Magnus gave a low chuckle, touched at Ragnor’s concern, his boss/friend could come across as a curmudgeon, but underneath he really did have a heart of gold.  
  
“I’m ok Ragnor,” Magnus responded, “I.. Well…A guy got stabbed in the park this morning when I was out running, I saw it all happen, and called the paramedics. I ended up going to the hospital with him, and waiting until his family arrived.

It was…” he broke off, wondering how much to share with Ragnor, and realising he’d end up telling him the whole story at some point anyway, “ Do you remember the hot guy I was telling you about, the one that I see every morning on my run? I was going to ask for his number today?” Magnus asked, knowing full well Ragnor knew who he was talking about, as he had barely stopped talking about him for weeks! “He.. it was him, who got stabbed,” Magnus trailed off with a whisper.

“Fuck! Seriously?” Was Ragnor’s amazed response, “Is he going to be okay?”

Magnus could feel that strange throat-closing sensation again, “I think so,” he answered in a soft voice,” they did surgery on the stab wound, the doctors are just worried about his head, he hit it pretty hard when he went down.”

“Wow. Are you sure you’re doing ok? You… don’t sound it. That must have been pretty traumatic to witness, “ Ragnor still sounded concerned.

“I’m ok as I can be right now. I am going to go back to the hospital later to see if there’s any update on his condition. At least it’s Friday and I have a couple days to deal with my emotions around it all, I should be good to come back to work on Monday though.” Magnus assured.

“Don’t rush back if you’re not ready. Please let me know if you need anything, ok? Catarina and I are both here for you if you need us,” once again, Ragnor was all heart. 

“I’ll be fine, but I’ll keep you posted. Thanks Ragnor,” Magnus responded warmly.

“Take care of yourself Magnus, talk soon, ok?” Ragnor hung up after hearing Magnus’ affirmation that they would indeed talk soon.

Now Magnus was at a loose end, sleep was evading him, he wasn’t hungry, and had absolutely no motivation to do anything, but he knew if he continued to stay cooped up in his nest, that his mind would go back to bad places, so he would need to get up and keep himself occupied somehow.

He fought his way out of his covers and moved over to his wardrobe, he decided he would busy himself with his normal routine of getting dressed and doing his hair and make-up, if he took his time that would take at least an hour, and he figured it would make him feel better, giving himself a sense of normality and donning his armour against the world.


	7. 7.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus readies himself to return to the hospital. Alec's phone reveals clues about his attacker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have one more chapter almost ready to go, but haven't had much time to write this week so there may be a delay in further updates, sorry :(  
> This is definitely turning into a much longer story than I had envisioned, please enjoy the ride!

**Chapter 7**

Over an hour later, Magnus was dressed in his favourite pair of black skinny jeans - they were just tight enough to show off the shape of his legs and ass, but also allowed him to move without too much restricition – he also donned a dark grey, long sleeve Henley, leaving the buttons undone, and overtop he had selected a thigh-length, military-style jacket in a vibrant royal-blue, complete with gold buttons, gold brocade and gold twine epaulettes. It was fabulous, but not too over-the-top (by Magnus’ standards anyway.) He picked a few necklaces, and a couple of rings to complete the look.

Magnus had styled his hair in his familiar spiked-up style, realising he was overdue a trip to his barber as his undercut was starting to get a little long. He opted to keep his make-up minimal, a little concealer, some highlighter to accent his sharp cheekbones, not too heavy-handed on the black eyeliner – just enough to make his eyes pop - and finished with a sweep of gold shimmer on his eyelids. 

Finally he turned his attention to his hands. Magnus tended not to wear nail polish during the week while he was working, but really wished that this morning that he had been wearing some, maybe it would have disguised the worst of the bloodstains under and around his nails. He shuddered at the thought and reached for his nail polish collection, avoiding anything red…  
  
Twenty minutes later, and 2 coats applied to each hand, Magnus stepped away from his dressing table, blowing gently on his now Midnight Blue polished nails, as he made his way through his house to his kitchen, his stomach growling steadily at him, he decided he would at least try to stomach some food. 

Looking through his cupboards carefully, not wanting to destroy his freshly painted nails, Magnus settled on heating up a couple of day-old croissants that he had picked up the previous day, from a delightful bakery that he passes every day on his way to and from work, and put a pot of coffee on to brew. He didn’t want anything too heavy for his stomach to handle, and knew he would need the caffeine to keep him going. 

Taking his food and coffee to the living room, he flipped on the TV, settling down on his couch to watch something mind-numbing for a couple of hours, until it was time to head back to the hospital, his stomach clenching uncomfortably at the thought. Partly due to the thought of being back in a hospital – oh how he hated them - and partly due to worry at how Alexander was doing, concerned for the young man that he had hoped he would be able to get to know better. 

After binge-watching America’s Next Top Model for a solid 2 hours, the pot of coffee and both croissants long gone, he decided he would get ready to head to the hospital. A quick check of his phone revealed no messages, from Isabelle or anyone else, he reminded himself of the old adage that ‘No news, is good news,’ hoping that was the true in this case.

Depositing his dirty dishes in the sink, his gaze fell on Alexander’s phone sitting on the table. Picking it up to place it in his pocket, he almost dropped it when it started vibrating in his hand signalling a new message.

Unable to keep his gaze from glancing at the display, his mouth fell open when he saw the words on the screen, _Next time you won’t be so lucky._

-

Magnus had no idea how long he stood there with his mouth gaping open, staring at the phone screen long after it had gone dark.

‘Next time you won’t be so lucky’

The words reverberated around his mind, who would send such a thing to someone who had just been seriously wounded? Unless…

Magnus’ mind flashed up a vision of a face - pale, with narrowed eyes - looking furious at having been interrupted... the face of the man that Magnus had scared off that very morning. The man he had chased away from doing violent things to Alexander, who was incapacitated on the ground. 

This man _knew_ Alexander and had wanted to do him serious harm?? The information didn’t compute in his brain, from the details he knew about Alexander and his friends and siblings, and his gut instinct which told him Alexander was a good soul - but really, how well did he know any of them?

Magnus frowned at his thoughts, filing them away to study in more depth at a later time. He went back to readying himself to leave for the hospital, picking up his wallet and keys, stopping to tie-on a pair of black combat boots, then heading out the door, locking it behind him.

Magnus hailed a cab once he reached the sidewalk, asking to be dropped off a couple of blocks away from the hospital - deciding to grab some coffees and snacks for the group who had no doubt been holed up in the hospital all day – while also giving himself a few minutes in the cool air, to get his thoughts together and brace himself before he headed back inside the hospital from which he had fled that very morning.

-

Making his way down the hallway that would lead to room 203, he glanced up at someone moving towards him, and saw Isabelle walking towards him. Her head was bowed, looking at her phone with a frown on her face, so she hadn’t spotted Magnus yet.

“Isabelle?” he intoned, gaining her attention. She looked up at him, the frown transforming in to a grateful smile.

“Magnus, you came back,” closing the gap between them, she carefully wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a hug, trying not to jostle his hold on the hot beverages in his hand, seeming genuinely pleased that Magnus was there.  
  
She pulled back after a few moments side-eyeing the coffee he was holding, “Please tell me one of those is for me?” her eyes were huge and pleading.

“Of course!” Magnus replied with a chuckle, he held up his other hand that was holding a paper bag, filled with various baked goods, “I figured none of you would have ventured far from Alec’s room to find sustenance.”

Isabelle grabbed the nearest cup, popped the lip open and without a second thought chugged most of the contents of the cup.

Magnus stared at her with something akin to horror, one eyebrow arched, “Um, there’s sugar and creamer in the bag…” he trailed off, raising the aforementioned bag slowly.

“I’m good, I like it black. Like my soul,” she added with a giggle.

Magnus rolled his eyes, but felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth, he liked Isabelle - there was something about her that was very comforting. One of those people who always said what they were thinking, she seemed so genuine, no time for mind games - you would always know where you stood with her.

“No changes I assume?” he asked, breaking the moment of levity, though he already knew the answer.

“No change,” she confirmed. “I’ll show you where we’re set up. Jace and Clary are sitting in with Alec right now. Simon fell asleep so I thought I’d take a walk and stretch my legs a little,” she filled in.

“Did the police come around yet? I figured they would have been involved at some point due to the attack and everything and they would want a statement about what happened from me, but I haven’t been contacted at all,” Magnus queried. 

“I thought that was strange too, I thought that they would have shown up at the hospital. Don’t doctors have to notify the police for this type of injury or is that just for gunshot wounds?” Isabelle pondered. “Either way we will definitely be reporting it to the police, especially with you as an eye witness. No way is the son of a bitch who did this getting away with it.” A scowl darkened her features.

Magnus paused briefly, before responding - now was a good a time as any to give Alec’s phone to Isabelle, “As I was getting ready to leave to come here, Alec’s phone buzzed and this message came through,” he pulled the phone out, tapping the screen to wake it and showing Isabelle the message displayed on the lock screen. 

“Next time you won’t be so lu…” she trailed off, not believing what she was seeing. Grabbing the phone from Magnus, she swiped the screen to get to the rest of Alec’s messages. The message had come from an unknown number. Scrolling a little further she realised that that hadn’t been the only threatening message that Alec had received recently. They had been coming through fairly steadily for the last couple of months. 

**April 7th, 6.08pm** _Next time you won’t be so lucky._  


**April 6th, 10.53pm** _I guess that’s my answer Alec._ _I warned you, if I can’t have you, nobody can._  


**April 6th 7.41am** _Is he the reason that you are ignoring me Alec? The guy that you've been eye-fucking in the park every morning for the last month?_  
**  
**

**March 23rd 1.43am** _I warned you Alec, my patience is wearing thin. This childish behaviour is getting old. Apologize so we can move on.  
_

**  
March 21st 8.42pm** _Alec, I only have so much patience. I’m not going to wait for you forever. Just apologize so we can put this mess behind us._  
  
**  
March 15th 9.59pm** _Alec, it’s been 2 months. How long can you keep this up? Just admit that you were wrong to leave me and everything can go back to how it used to be. I won’t hold it against you.  
  
_

**March 4th 5.27pm** _I see how it is now, you’re trying to make me jealous. Well it’s working. I miss you. Call me!_

**  
February 25th 7.41pm** _Alec, I’ll do anything to fix this. Please._

**  
February 14th 11.17pm** _If I can’t have you, no one can._

**  
February 11th 10.12pm** _Won’t you ever forgive me? TALK TO ME ALEC!_

**  
February 2nd 11.34pm** _Who was that guy you were talking to? Have you moved on from me so soon?_

**  
February 2nd 8.07pm** _I saw you today Alec, you looked as beautiful as always. But you didn’t see me. Why won’t you talk to me?_

**  
January 27th 4.31pm** _You can’t avoid me forever. I know where you live, I know where you work. I know you!_

**  
January 20th 6.16am** _I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that._

**  
January 20th 1.49am** _You’ll regret leaving me like this, Alec. I’ll make sure of it._  
  
**  
January 17th 2.09am** _I miss you._

**  
January 16th 3.02am** _I love you Alec, all I want is for you to love me back. Is that too much to ask?_

**  
January 16th 1.14am** _Why did you leave? I thought we had something special._

**  
January 15th 11.20pm** _You selfish son of a bitch. How could you leave me?_

  
  
Isabelle’s face had run through a gamut of emotions, Magnus almost didn’t want to know what she had seen on Alexander’s phone, but a bigger part of him wondered if it had indeed been the guy from the park who had send that ominous message.  
  
“Isabelle?” he questioned, as tears had formed and threatened to fall from her eyes, a mixture of anguish and rage.  
  
“That fucking _bastard!_ I’m going to kill him,” came through gritted teeth. A name came from her lips, filled with pure rage and loathing, “Sebastian.”


	8. 8.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabelle shares her discovery.

**Chapter 8**

Having no idea as to who Isabelle was referring, Magnus questioned, “Sebastian?”

Isabelle glanced up at him, taking a breath to compose herself. “Sorry,” she muttered, “sorry that you have been dragged into this whole drama.”

Magnus gave a wry smile, “Drama is my middle name,” or at least so he’d been told many times over the years, though mostly by Ragnor. Magnus did tend to air a little on the dramatic side, on occasion.  
  
Isabelle let out a strained sound, somewhere between a choked off giggle and a groan, sweeping her eyes over Magnus, for the first time really taking him in since she had last seen him that morning. “Flair for the dramatic, huh?” she asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Magnus waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, causing them both to break into giggles and break the sombre mood that had descended over them upon the discovery of Alec’s messages.

Isabelle sobered quickly, pocketing Alec’s phone, before grabbing Magnus’ arm and turning to head down the hallway, dragging him behind a few paces until his legs caught up with her quick stride, “Come on, we need to tell the rest about this,” she stated, determination in her voice and walk.

-

It only took a few moments to find the location where Alec’s family had holed up, they had taken over a row of several chairs lined up against a wall, coats and bags strewn across them haphazardly, Simon hunched over in a chair, his hand attempting to hold up his head as he dozed.

Isabelle let go of Magnus’ arm, effectively depositing him where he stood, before turning and poking her head into room 203. “Any changes?” she questioned. Magnus assumed by the lack of response that Jace and/or Clary had merely shaken their head. “Will you two come out here for a second?” she followed up.

Isabelle backed out of the doorway, Jace and Clary appearing a moment later. “What’s going on?” Jace looked suspicious, his eyebrows sloping into a deeper frown when he saw Magnus had returned. “I thought one of us would always be at his side?” Jace finished.

Isabelle looked at him intently, obviously deciding how to tell them what she needed to tell them.  
  
She turned away for a second, heading over to shake Simon from his slumber. “Unh,” was the startled sound that left his mouth, before he glanced around at the sombre faces surrounding him, “Oh god, what happened?” His face dropping, as his immediate train of thought was that something had happened with Alec.

Isabelle turned and sat in the closest empty chair, she looked stoically at the faces of her sibling and friends and muttered one word, “Sebastian.”

Magnus noted Jace stiffen, his hands clenching into fists at his side, “Is he here?” were the bitten off words Jace managed to choke out, his head looking around for an unwelcome figure.

Isabelle levelled her gaze at him, “No. But I think he was the one who put Alec here,” she dropped her face in to her hands, cradling her head, fingers digging into her scalp, fear and hurt and frustration overwhelming her. 

Clary and Simon went slack jawed at Isabelle’s statement, Jace on the other hand began turning puce “I’m going to murder that asshole. Hasn’t he put Alec through enough already!?” his anger burning fiercely now.

Clary put a hand on his arm, voicelessly urging him to calm down, before asking Isabelle, “What makes you think that?”

Isabelle took a deep breath before looking up, glancing briefly at Magnus, “Something Magnus said when he was telling us how it had happened, about how the guy looked like he wanted to hurt Alec, you know, more...”she gestured futilely with her hands, “like it was personal. Then I read the messages on Alec’s phone, from an unknown number…I’m sure Alec blocked Sebastian’s number, but he obviously found a way to text Alec anyway, anonymously of course. The timeline fits, it starts around the time I figure Alec and Sebastian broke up, and the messages allude to a relationship.

Plus the fact I never liked that smarmy, son of a bitch. Something always seemed _off_ about him.”

She pulled out Alec’s phone, considering showing the messages to the rest of the group, but decided she had already invaded his privacy enough. It wasn’t fair on him to let the others see the messages too. ‘Why did you keep them Alec? Why not delete them?’ she thought to herself, ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Her thoughts despairing; they used to be so close.

Everyone was silent, thinking about Isabelle’s words, none of them knew Sebastian that well – and Magnus not at all - but Isabelle and Jace had never particularly liked the guy, and although Alec had never told them many details of the relationship, they both had the feeling that it hadn’t ended well. 

Alec did appear happier once it was over though, the months that he and Sebastian had been together, Alec had not been his normal, carefree self, he had become withdrawn and guarded, one thing which he had never before been around his siblings.   
  
Alec had never particularly been an outgoing person, he tended to avoid crowds and was not fond of having any kind of spotlight on him, but the months he had been with Sebastian he had even started pulling away from his siblings. Jace and Isabelle had felt it, but when pushed, Alec would deny anything of the sort.   
  
Isabelle wondered now if Alec had been trying to protect them back then - did Sebastian’s apparent jealousy extend to Alec spending time with his family? Her heart broke for her brother, always so selfless, looking out for everyone else before himself.

Magnus stood awkwardly as Alec’s family and friends processed this bombshell, he fidgeted in place, his hands still holding the coffee and baked goods. Simon’s attention was caught by the bag rustling as Magnus twitched, causing his eyebrows to raise excitedly, “Oh my god, is that coffee?” he was up, out of his chair and standing in front of Magnus in a heartbeat.  
  
Within a second, Clary had caught on and was staring longingly at the remaining cups in Magnus’ hand.

“Yes, I thought you might need some caffeine,” Magnus extended his arm, holding the cups towards Simon who graciously plucked one, and held it close with both hands, taking a deep sniff of the glorious bean water. Magnus turned towards Clary gesturing she should take one too - she bounced over and gratefully took a cup.   
  
“I also brought some snacks, I know how much hospital cafeteria food sucks,” he finished half-smiling and extending out his other arm, Clary swiped the bag and quickly sat down, Simon following as they tore open the bag, eager to get to the treats inside. Pulling out sugar and creamer, they dumped excessive amounts into their beverages, before unwrapping a variety of baked goods. Clary let out a long moan as she sunk her teeth into a frosted donut. “I needeb dis so mush, fank-ou Mag-nush,” she mumbled around a rather large mouthful of dough.  
  
He chuckled out a “You’re welcome,” as he looked over at Simon who had somehow managed to get powdered sugar all over the lower half of his face. “These are sooo good,” Simon stated, puffing out a cloud of white dust. Isabelle was looking at Simon with a soft, half-amused look on her face.   
  
Magnus turned to Jace, to see him frowning darkly at a blank space on the wall. He slowly edged over, holding out the last coffee like it was a peace offering, breaking Jace from his reverie, “Oh, thanks man,” Jace took the coffee with a simple nod. 

Isabelle seemed to suddenly remember that they were all out in the hallway and that no one was currently sitting with Alec. Magnus noticed her eyes widen, and her head turn towards room 203, before she stood, moving the rest of her body in the same direction as her gaze. Magnus quickly sidestepped Jace, softly saying Isabelle’s name, she locked eyes with him, understanding his unasked question; she nodded with a small smile, tilting her head, indicating that he should follow her.

-  
  
Magnus wasn’t sure what to expect when he walked through the door, he remembered the nurse from this morning who had warned them not to be overwhelmed by all the machines and equipment in the room, that they were all normal, standard items for someone recovering from a surgery. It’s not like being in a hospital was a new experience for him, he had spent countless hours in one when his mother had been sick, but walking in to that room, somehow the sight still managed to take him by surprise.

Alexander’s tall, sturdy frame looked so small and fragile, the bruises on his face stood out starkly against his pale skin. There were a couple of stitches in his eyebrow, where the brutal punch had cut him, and his cheekbone was an angry combination of red and purple.   
  
The rest of his body was covered in a white sheet, except for his arms, where there was an IV protruding from the inside of his arm in the crook of his elbow and some other kind of monitoring device attached to his finger. There were other wires attached to his temples, leading to another machine; he felt his stomach clench as he took in all the details, this was bringing back memories he really didn’t want to relive. 

Isabelle noticed that he had paused just inside the doorway and recognised the look of discomfort on his face; she gently grasped his hand, tugging him to where there were two chairs set up beside the bed, encouraging him to sit in one. 

Isabelle gently dropped Magnus’ hand into his lap once he was seated, then reached over to take Alec’s closest hand in her own.

“Hey big bro, I’m back,” she began, speaking softly, “I found Magnus wandering in the hallways, he wanted to see how you were doing,” she glanced over briefly at Magnus, gauging his response to her talking to her unconscious brother.   
  
When she saw that Magnus was barely listening, gaze focused on Alec’s face, but thoughts seemingly elsewhere, she continued in almost a whisper, “Why didn’t you tell us about Sebastian? That it was so bad? He was practically stalking you Alec! I dread to think what would have happened if Magnus hadn’t been there…” she choked off at that thought.  
  
Magnus had tuned back in to reality, just in time to hear Isabelle say that Sebastian had been _stalking_ Alec? This was really bad.   
  
“Isabelle? We need to go to the police. With those messages and what I saw this morning, Sebastian has to go away for a very long time,” Magnus’ eyes were pleading, “He’s still out there, and it sounds like he’s willing to try again! What if he tries coming here to finish the job??” Magnus could feel the panic rising in his throat. 

“Let him try. He won’t get past us. He won’t get past Jace!” Isabelle responded, eyes almost black with hatred, lips curled into a snarl. 

“Isabelle?” Magnus was taken aback by the ferocity she was exuding.

“We will Magnus,” her eyes softened as she looked at him, “There’s no way we are letting that bastard get away with this, but right now, all my energy and focus is going to be on my brother until he wakes up. Maybe a little bit of it will be taken up thinking what I would do to punish the rat-faced piece of shit who dared to hurt my brother,” she smirked briefly, “but first and foremost, I need to know that Alec is going to be okay,” the mixture of hope and determination clear in her voice.

Magnus nodded in understanding, thoughts whirling a mile a minute through his head, by far the loudest one was ‘Please let him be okay.’

-

When 8 o’clock came, and the nurse returned to check Alec’s vitals, she reminded them that visiting hours were over. Magnus took that as his cue to leave, whilst Isabelle stared mulishly at her, as if daring the nurse to throw her out.

The nurse continued checking Alec over, switching out his IV bag, and jotting down his vitals on his chart. Before leaving the room, she cast another hard glance towards Isabelle, realising it was a losing battle to get her to leave, she sighed and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Magnus, who had stepped to the side to allow the nurse to do her job, spoke up “I don’t want to overstay my welcome, so I think I’ll call it a night. Isabelle, please do keep me apprised of any changes, no matter the time, day or night.”

“You’re leaving?” It took Isabelle a moment to catch onto what Magnus had said; she’d been lost in her own thoughts. She looked over at him, he seemed distant, maybe he didn’t know whether he could or should stay, maybe he didn’t want to stay? Or was unsure as to whether he’d be welcome to stay? “You can stay if you want to, I know you must be as eager as the rest of us for him to wake up,” she smiled softly, hoping to reassure him.

“I... Are you sure? I don’t… I mean, you’re family, I… I don’t even know him, not really…” he trailed off, unsure himself of what he wanted to do, what he should do. Magnus felt torn, he was feeling so many emotions, but sheer exhaustion was weighing him down so heavily he was having a hard time forming any coherent thoughts. 

Isabelle stood, moving over to him, “Magnus,” she began, placing her hand on his arm, “Stay or go, whatever you want to do. Just know that you are always welcome here, I will never be able to thank you enough for stepping in and saving my brother. I know he will want to thank you too, when he wakes up,” she smiled gently at him, before pulling him in for a hug.

Magnus felt himself wilt in her arms, the emotion of the day combined with fatigue rendering him boneless. He just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep for a week, and forget all the events that had filled this day.

He pulled himself from her embrace, leaning back into the wall to hold him up, before his legs gave out, “Thank you Isabelle, but I think it best I head home, before I drop,” he finished with a humourless smile.

Isabelle noticed the tightness around his eyes, the dark smudges below them and the grey pallor to his skin, “You didn’t get much sleep this afternoon I assume?”

“No, unfortunately sleep eluded me, my brain has this bad habit of not knowing when to take a break,” one side of his mouth lifted briefly, trying but failing to inject some humour into his words.  
  
Magnus nodded towards Alec’s still form, “Please let me know if _anything_ changes,” he asked once again, staring into Isabelle’s eyes, trying to communicate that he wanted to know any little detail about Alexander’s condition. She nodded in understanding, “Of course. Take care Magnus.”

Magnus turned then, heading out of the room. He spared a glance at the rest of Alexander’s family, huddled together in the hallway, Simon’s head resting on his hand once again, Clary and Jace curled into one another as best they could on the uncomfortable chairs, eyes closed in slumber, before he turned to head down the hallway, exiting the hospital for the second time that day, this time he wasn’t trying to flee, this time he just needed to make it home before exhaustion got the best of him.


	9. 9.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus overthinks (again.) Cat gives him a pep talk. Alec's condition improves.

**Chapter 9**

Magnus awoke with a start. Sunlight was filtering dimly around the edge of the curtains, filling the room with a muted light. From his side table, came a buzzing sound, Magnus realised that must have been what had woken him so abruptly, albeit thankfully, as his dreams had been unpleasant.

Reaching over to grab his phone, he saw it was a little after 6am, swiping the screen open, he saw a message from Isabelle;

_The doctor said the swelling in Alec’s brain has gone down, they are going to start lowering his sedative, and they are expecting him to wake up today!_

The relief that flooded through Magnus’ veins made his phone fall from slack fingers and his head fall back hard into his pillows, had he not already been laying down he most likely would’ve ended up in that position. It was like a shot of adrenaline flowing through his body, making his heartbeat race and his head dizzy, fear and worry being chased away by a feeling of relief.  
  
He took a few deep, calming breaths, picking up his phone again to re-read the words; _they are expecting him to wake up today!_

Magnus took a few minutes just trying to make sense of all the emotions he was feeling.  
  
So relieved that he wanted to cry, Magnus threw back the covers on his bed, planning to get up and get dressed to head back to the hospital, but his legs had turned to jelly; he took another minute just to breathe and centre himself.  
  
Now that the initial rush of emotion was abating, his elation had dampened a little - if Alec was awake, did Magnus need to be there? Isabelle had said Alec would want to thank him, but…he didn’t want Alec’s thanks. Not really. He just wanted Alec to be ok! And it seemed like he was going to be?

Magnus had so desperately wanted to get to know Alec. Now Alec was going to be healing for a while, from his surgery and then whatever potential damage he may have suffered to his brain. Not to mention Alec’s crazy-ex who had tried to kill him, and was still on the loose.  
  
Magnus… wasn’t something that Alec needed in his life right now. He would be just another complication. 

To be honest, Magnus was afraid that Alexander would only accept him in his life out of some sense of gratitude for saving his life, and Magnus wanted to be so much more than that to Alec.

Taking another breath, shaking his head to clear the path his thoughts had taken him on, Magnus turned back to his phone.  
  
_Thank you for the update Isabelle, that is wonderful news.  
  
_He hit send, before tossing his phone back onto the bed, and finally got up, heading towards his shower on still-shaky legs. A shower always made him feel better, maybe it would help clear his mind and straighten out his thoughts, even a little.

-

Twenty minutes later and all the hot water used up, Magnus emerged from his bathroom, warm and flushed. Some days Magnus liked to turn the heat up until it was almost scalding him, he found it extremely relaxing and made him feel heated through to his bones, scorching away any negative thoughts. For a while, at least.

Quickly throwing on a pair of olive green dropped crotch pants – the most casual pair of pants he owned, and the closest thing to ‘sweat’ pants as he would ever own – along with a black, tight-fit long sleeve tee, he took a few moments to swipe on some eyeliner, and fingered some gel through his hair to tame it, not bothering to spike it up this morning. He grabbed his phone from the bed before heading towards his kitchen.

He stopped in his tracks while entering the room, as he had clicked the home button on his phone, and saw that he had received several more messages while he was in the shower, all from Isabelle.

_What time are you coming back today? Our parents and little brother will be here in a couple of hours, so it might be a little crowded. I think they would want to meet you though_ _:)_

Quickly followed up by;

_Don’t let that scare you off, they’re not that bad I swear :D_

Ten minutes after that;

_Alec is starting to show signs of consciousness, his fingers have been twitching like he’s trying to move them and his eyes are moving behind his eyelids! Very good signs! Hopefully it won’t be long now until he’s fully awake_ _:):):)_ _Get here soon!_

Magnus closed his eyes tightly, trying to level his thoughts and feelings.  
  
He really wanted to be there, even if just for Isabelle’s sake. She seemed to have really taken to him, and she was someone he could imagine being friends with - despite this terrible situation that had brought them together.  
  
He also hadn’t resolved how he felt about Alec, he had mooned over the guy for a month! He had been weaving stories (fantasies) in his head - of dates, of laughter and kisses; whispers and intimate touches. The thought of Alexander’s gorgeous face and beautiful blue eyes immediately bringing a smile to his face; he was having a hard time reconciling the image of the pale man in the hospital bed as the tall, handsome man from the park.  
  
Magnus almost felt like he was an intruder Alexander’s misfortune; to be so callously attacked by a former lover, and have Magnus be the one to step in to prevent any worse befalling him. Magnus had wanted to romance and woo the beautiful dark-haired man, take him on dates to get to know him better. Take their time, building up a relationship. Then maybe, eventually, Alec would introduce Magnus to his family and he would get to know them too.  
  
Now it was all backwards - _all_ _wrong_ \- and worst of all, his siblings had no idea that Magnus had been crushing _hard_ on their brother, and if they found that out now wouldn’t that just make everything more awkward? Especially now they all knew that it was most likely Alec’s most recent ex that had grievously injured him and put him in the hospital… And now here was this stranger looking to work his way into Alec’s affections...  
  
Alec - and his siblings – were going to be wary of letting anyone get close to Alec now…

Magnus dropped into a seat at his kitchen table, put his elbows on the surface and dropped his face into his hands. In one day how did everything get so complicated?

-

Magnus really wished he could talk to his mother at times like these. She’d been in his thoughts a lot lately, even more so after the amount of time that he’d spent in hospital waiting rooms over the last 24 hours.  
  
Memories of watching her slowly slip away assaulted him at various times, he recalled her pale form, hidden under white sheets, hooked up to heart monitors and IV’s and miscellaneous other things. 

All the days and weeks he had spent at her bedside, watching her fade into nothing. No longer lighting up rooms with her smile and her effervescent personality, merely a shell of a woman; the woman who had birthed him, who had taught him to always see the best in people. The woman who was always there for him, who raised him on her own, and shaped him into the man he is. The strongest woman he’s ever known.

Shaking his head to clear the maudlin thoughts, and dashing away the tears prickling his eyes, he picked up his phone to call his best friend Cat.  
  
Magnus and Catarina had known each other for many years; they’d met in college and hit it off immediately, becoming fast friends.

They didn’t get to see each other much these days, as is wont to happen as people grow up, get jobs, and start families.

Catarina had met Ragnor a couple of years after they finished school, they were married a year later, and now had a child, with a second on the way. On paper, Catarina and Ragnor didn’t make sense; she was so warm and friendly, caring to a fault, but with a sly streak, whereas Ragnor wore a perpetual frown, and was short and to the point in his manners. But seeing them together, you would think them made for each other, they just worked perfectly together.

Not that Magnus believes in fate or destiny or any of that rubbish, but maybe they were an exception.

“Magnus?” Catarina’s voice on the line broke him from his thoughts.

“Hey Cat, how are you doing?”

“I’m well, just tired. Baby spent all night using my bladder as a football,” she chuckled, “more importantly, how are _you?_ Ragnor told me about what happened yesterday, how are you holding up?” Magnus could hear the concern in her voice.

“ _I’m_ fine, I’m not the one in a hospital bed right now,” he muttered.

“Magnus! You may not have been physically injured, but witnessing an event like that can be traumatic. Especially when you have… feelings… for the victim,” Catarina admonished him.

Magnus let out a sigh, “I know, I’m just trying to put a brave face on I guess.”  
  
“You know you don’t have to do that with me, right? Do you want me to come over? We can talk more, and I don’t like the thought of you being on your own right now. You’re not okay, Magnus. I know you,” Catarina reminded him.

“I… it would be lovely to see you. How about I come to you? I’d feel bad making the pregnant lady come all the way across the city for my sorry ass,” Magnus offered.

“Believe me you would be doing me a favour, Ragnor and Madzie are playing with the train set,” Magnus could practically hear Catarina’s eye-roll over the phone, “I’ll be there in an hour,” she finished, hanging up without giving him a chance to protest.

Magnus decided it would be nice to have some company; it had been a long time since he’d had anyone in his apartment. He got up and wandered around briefly, deciding it was in adequate shape to host company, and headed back to the kitchen to make himself something to eat before Cat arrived.

-

As promised, just under an hour later Catarina was on his doorstep, glowing the way pregnant women always seemed to. “Magnus!” she chirped, pulling him into a tight hug. “It’s been too long,” she complained, pulling back and grabbing his chin with her hand, “I’ve missed that face!” she finished, letting go of his jaw and hugging him again.

Magnus couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as he held on tightly to the hugging woman; she always managed to make him feel better, no matter the reason for his bad mood.

“Come in, come in,” he gestured once they had broken apart, closing the door behind her and taking her coat, hanging it up on the rack as he passed by, leading her to the living area.

-

Once they were both settled on the couch, each nestled in with a cup of tea, Magnus filled Catarina in on all of the details from the previous day.

Cat’s expression shifted as he spoke; from concern when he relived witnessing the attack, to worry for Alec’s injuries, to sadness when Magnus talked about the shock of seeing so much blood crusted under his fingernails.

It turned to anger when she heard that they had discovered it was Alec’s ex who had hurt him, but she smiled softly when Magnus spoke of Isabelle and her fierce protectiveness of her brother and how she had welcomed Magnus into the family circle.

Hope gripped her when she learned that Alec might wake up today.

Catarina murmured her encouragement for Magnus to keep going, not wanting to distract him from his story telling; she could see the toll it was taking on him, but knew that he needed to get it out. It was part of his process; it helped him to tell the whole story, and hopefully resolve some of his feelings along the way.

Magnus finally came to the crux of his thoughts; what to do now?

“Cat, I don’t know what to do,” he started, “I… I don’t want him or his family to feel indebted to me for helping him, but –God! – I just wanted to have the chance to get to know him,” he sounded despairing. “Do you think I should go and see him? Or stay away? Wait until he has recovered and then reconnect? I feel so torn, Cat,” he finished, sadly.

“Magnus, try to tune out all of the white noise and just listen to your heart. What is it telling you?” Cat knew Magnus’ heart was always true, always a solid guide to follow.

Magnus closed his eyes briefly, taking a breath, “I want to see him, Cat. I want to see with my own eyes that he is awake and breathing and that he’s gonna be okay,” Magnus opened his eyes and locked gazes with Cat, eyes bright with emotion.

“Then that’s what you should do. Stop overthinking – go and see him with your own eyes. Listen to your heart, your gut, whatever - then go from there. See what happens next. Just be you – your caring, charming self. He’ll be head over heels in no time,” she finished, winking at him.

Magnus let out a chuckle, leaning over to hug her briefly, “Thanks Cat, sometimes I just can’t get out of my own head.”

“Oh, I’m well aware of that,” she grinned at him, “that’s what I’m here for,” she removed herself from his arms.

Magnus looked down at his hands, clenching them in to fists and taking a deep breath, steeling himself to face going back to the hospital.

“Ok,” he said, finally, “I’ll send Isabelle a message, to let her know that I’ll be back at some point today. She said her parents and younger brother would be there today too, so it may be a little crowded,” he felt doubt creeping back in again, “Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t go, maybe I should just let the family have their time with him –“

“Magnus,” Cat cut in, “don’t you dare talk yourself out of it. You want to go, so go. I tell you what, let’s go now, I’ll drive you,” her words were determined, “ You can get there and spend some time with him before the rest of the family gets in, and before you can second-guess yourself again.”

Magnus looked up into Cat’s eyes, wide open and honest, and looking back at him with so much care; she really was his best friend for a reason. Rolling his eyes at her, he huffed out a “Fine,” secretly glad that she was there to push him, and not allow him to chicken out.

“Good! Now get your shit together and we can go now. You can text Isabelle on the way,” Cat stood up slowly, depositing her empty mug on the table, and waddling her way towards the front door.

She looked back over her shoulder when she realised Magnus hadn’t moved yet, she cleared her throat loudly, “AHEM, move your butt mister,” she glared at him until he jerked in to movement, rising from the couch.

She watched his hands skitter over himself, smoothing out invisible wrinkles, as he mentally gathered himself and followed her into the lobby.

“You ready?” she asked him, once he had grabbed his keys and wallet, tied his shoes and donned his coat, and then helped her back into hers.

Magnus puffed out a breath he didn’t even realise he was holding, “Yup, let’s go.” He reached out to open the front door, holding it open for Cat, before following her out and locking up behind.  
  


-

Magnus text Isabelle from the car;

_Hey Isabelle, is it ok if I drop by now? I had a friend over and she offered to give me a ride on her way home._

He paused for moment then quickly hit send, before he could blunder out any more words.

The reply was almost instantaneous;

_Of course it’s ok, Magnus! Alec opened his eyes 10 minutes ago! The doctor just got here and kicked us out of Alec’s room while they ran some more tests. He opened his eyes Magnus!!_

Magnus could feel the joy and relief in her words, he felt it too. Closing his eyes to keep his emotions in check, his voice sounded a little rough as he relayed Isabelle’s response to Catarina.

“That is wonderful news Magnus,” Cat sounded happy and relieved.

“Yes, yes it is…” Magnus murmured in response.

As they neared the hospital, Magnus felt that almost familiar clench in his gut again, this time worry and fear, but mixed with hope and… something else…


	10. 10.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Izzy talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sporadic updates, just uploading when I can! I should have another chapter ready to go tomorrow, but that will probably be it until next week.
> 
> The story should start to move swiftly from here on out...
> 
> As always, feedback is appreciated :)
> 
> I don't own these characters :(

**Chapter 10**

A fine drizzle was falling when Magnus stepped out of the car. Cat had gotten him as close to the hospital as possible, but it would still be a short walk to the front entrance. He thanked Cat again, and promised that he would keep her updated from here on. Cat seemed really invested in Alec’s recovery now too.  
  
The misting rain was already clinging to his hair and eyelashes and depositing a fine layer of dew on his clothes. As Magnus neared the front doors, he could feel the moisture weighing down his hair, sticking his already flat hair to his head, and coating his face in dampness while the cool April wind chased a shiver down his spine.

Once inside, he headed for the nearest washroom, hoping to make himself a little more presentable before he encountered Isabelle and the rest of the family.

Magnus removed his coat and shook it out to expel the excess moisture, before grabbing some paper towels, and gently patting his face dry, careful not to dislodge the small amount of eyeliner he had swiped on a few hours ago.

Magnus stared into the mirror, looking down at his outfit, realising he had dressed for lounging around in his loft, and not for being seen in public, and felt discomfort crawl up his skin.

Magnus would never describe himself as a vain person (countless others surely would,) but he was certainly someone who took pride in his appearance and how he presented himself to the rest of the world. He had described it before as armour, and perhaps that was true to some extent, but it was more about projecting himself – how he wants to be seen.

He was currently wearing the most casual clothes he owned, and even though they covered nearly every inch of skin, he felt exposed. Even his running gear – which was form-fitting and highlighted his trim physique extremely well – still managed to portray the image he wanted to present to the world, leaving him feeling less naked than he did right now.

The person staring back at him in the mirror was someone he didn’t recognise. A side of Magnus that he rarely showed, and even then only to his closest, dearest friends – the few people he trusted with his whole self. Even Camille had shunned this side of him, not interested in anything but the carefully crafted persona Magnus displayed to the world. 

Magnus shook his head, not wanting to think about that bitch, not here, not now. She had already done as much damage as she possibly could to Magnus; he didn’t need to revisit those feelings.

Taking a deep breath, Magnus stared hard into his own eyes reflected back at him, he straightened his back and squared his shoulders, bringing him up to his full height, tried to look at himself through the eyes of a stranger (or of Alexander?)

Magnus appraised himself; he’s tall, taller than most people he encounters anyway; his dark hair loose - the moisture of the rain undoing any work the hair gel had been doing – long strands were falling across his forehead, which he swept to the side with a brush of his hand, his caramel skin unblemished (something he has always been proud of, even if his skin-care regime is a pain in the ass some days!) his golden-green eyes, almond shaped and lined by dark lashes and black kohl, his broad shoulders and long legs – objectively he was a good-looking man, not that he ever doubted it. Magnus is so used to having layers built up and overtop of himself, only letting people see what he wants them to see.

Now, stripped back and bare, and on the cusp of - what he hopes will be - a new opportunity in his life, maybe being transparent is not a bad thing? Magnus suspects that Alec is different, he already trusts him and his sister in ways that he hadn’t quite realised until now, and maybe it’s ok to let these people in and see a different side of him than he normally shows to the world? 

If Magnus really does want Alec to be in his life - the way that he has been imagining - then maybe he needs to bare himself, let the world see the real Magnus underneath.

Magnus felt a shudder rack his frame, laying himself bare was a huge step out of his comfort zone. Very few people in his life had ever proved themselves worthy of seeing past his carefully crafted façade.

After a few more moments of contemplation, Magnus shook his head to clear it, too much profundity for so early on a Saturday morning.

Grabbing his coat and throwing it on, he turns and stalks out of the door before he can get drawn back into his own head again.

-

A couple of minutes and several flights of stairs later, Magnus finds himself in the now-familiar hallway that houses the 200-210 series of hospital rooms, though now the area is surprisingly empty. Only the hastily assembled line of chairs against the wall remains to show where Alec’s family had huddled the previous day.

A shard of doubt jabs him somewhere in the lower abdomen, _Isabelle knew I was on my way, so where is everyone?_ He thinks. 

His eyes drift to the closed door of room 203, and he hesitates for a second, before crossing and knocking gently on the wood.

A few moments pass and the sound of shuffling feet, before the door opens and Isabelle’s tired face appears, instantly breaking into a smile at the sight of Magnus.

“Hey,” she says opening the door wider, and wrapping her arms around Magnus’s chest, “He’s sleeping again, the tests were quite exhausting for him,” Isabelle explained, as Magnus briefly tightened his arms around her, returning the hug.

Isabelle drew back, reaching for Magnus’ hand and pulling him into the room behind her.

The two chairs from the day before were still there, now separated - one on each side of the bed. Isabelle gestured Magnus to the nearest one, as she circled the bed and took up the spot on the same side as she had occupied the day before.

Magnus noted that the wires that had been attached to Alec’s temples the day before were now gone - however the IV was still in place - as Isabelle grabbed Alec’s hand in both of hers, fingers stroking gently over the back of his hand.

Before Magnus could say anything, Isabelle began speaking, “He was a little disoriented when he first woke up, I was sitting here holding his hand when I felt his fingers clench in mine,” she smiled at the memory, “I looked up and he was staring back at me, my God I’ve never felt so relieved in my life, I think I scared him a little when I burst into tears,” she laughed, but Magnus could see the sheen of wetness in her eyes even now, “he just looked at me, like he was worried about _me,_ ” she blinked and a tear fell from her eye, down her cheek, “he is the one lying in a hospital bed, and he was worried about me, why I was crying,” she dashed away a few more tears that escaped.

“He tried to say my name, but he could barely get out a sound, I pressed the button for the nurse to come, and I got him some water to sip on. Then the nurse bustled in and started fussing over him and kicked me out,” her severe frown told Magnus all he needed to know about how she felt about that.

“The doctor came soon after that, and they were doing all kinds of tests to check his responses, his brain activity. By the time they were done and I could go back in, they told me they’d given him a little more sedative as he was getting agitated and the tests had worn him out,” she sounded worried, clearly they hadn’t given any indication as to the results of the tests they’d conducted.

“The doctor said he would be back in a couple of hours and would give us an update then,” she finished, still gripping Alec’s hand tightly.

-

A short while passed before either of them breached the silence that had descended over the room, when Magnus piped up, “Where is everybody else?”

“Oh, after the doctor left and said it would be a couple of hours before Alec would wake again, everyone went home to clean up or get changed or sleep or whatever,” Isabelle responded.

“What about you?” Magnus replied, frowning, noticing that she was still wearing the same outfit as the day before and didn’t look like she’d had more than a moments rest in all that time.

Her steely gaze rested on Magnus, “I’m not leaving here until I know he’s going to be okay,” her soft voice at odds with the hard look in her eyes.

“Besides, Clary is going to bring me a change of clothes when she comes back, so I can at least freshen up a little,” she finished, glancing down at herself.

“Do you need anything else? I’m sorry, I didn’t even offer to bring anything,” Magnus apologised, feeling a little guilty in hindsight, he was so caught up in his own feelings and emotions he hadn’t even thought to ask if they had needed anything.

“That’s ok, Jace has been given strict orders not to show back up here without carbs and caffeine!” she replied with a smirk.

-

It was strange for Magnus to sit in silence, without feeling the urge to break it; but it was a comfortable silence, the kind that is reserved for hospitals and churches, where the mere presence of another person in silent companionship said so much more than words ever could.

Isabelle was the one to break the silence this time. “You said you didn’t really know my brother, that you just recognised him from the park in the mornings, but I get the feeling there’s more to it than that,” her words weren’t accusing, just observant.

Magnus felt a light flush crawl up his neck and over his cheeks. Isabelle was nothing if not direct.

He cleared his throat, and let out a small chuckle to break the feeling of dread climbing up the inside of his throat.

He chanced a glance across the bed towards Isabelle, her gaze was already on him, studying him openly. Magnus let out a small sigh, “Ok, um…” he chuckled again, trying to explain feeling like a teenager with a crush, “Your brother is an extremely good-looking man,” she gave him a knowing look, they’d already established this fact the previous day, “So yes, I had _more than_ noticed him. And he had definitely noticed me too, we had been…” he broke off for a moment, not quite sure how to explain, or if he wanted Isabelle to know about his and Alec’s awkward staring and peacocking, feeling his cheeks flush again, “We had noticed each other and there was a lot of very meaningful eye contact happening,” a small grin had formed on his face at the memory of it, Isabelle didn’t miss the fact that Magnus’ smile made it all the way to his eyes.

Isabelle liked Magnus very much, and the fact that he looked so genuinely happy thinking about her brother, made her like him even more. “There is something about him, something in his eyes that goes so much deeper than that gorgeous face and those beautiful blues, like… like he would do anything for the people he cares about, like being the focus of that gaze is the safest place in the world. And I so badly wanted to be someone that would be worthy of that,” Magnus continued softly, lost in his recollection.

“I had finally worked up the courage and decided I was going to ask for his number, and his name,” Magnus chuckled at himself, before sobering, “yesterday morning, I was going to ask him. Then he didn’t show at our usual spot and I felt so disappointed, I had been running a few minutes late and I wanted to kick myself so badly as I thought I had maybe missed him, or, worse, that he hadn’t waited to see me…” Magnus trailed off, shuddering at the memory of what happened next and not wanting to continue with that train of thought.

“So yes, you are right, there is more to it, I am definitely emotionally invested in your brother’s recovery,” Magnus finished, dropping his head into his palms, not sure whether to feel embarrassed, or relieved that it was out in the open.

Isabelle studied Magnus silently for a few more moments, before speaking quietly, “Magnus,” she started, reaching a hand over to touch one of Magnus’, prompting him to lift his head and look at her, “I know exactly what you are talking about - that look - Alec is definitely the protector in our family. Not everyone sees it though.” She took a moment to stare into his eyes, silently weighing him; he seemed so genuine, like someone who wasn’t used to baring his soul to anyone but was trusting her with it right now, probably because of who she was to Alec. Magnus did seem to genuinely care for her brother.

Deciding that Magnus was worthy, she continued, “Most people are attracted to Alec because of his looks, he has had a lot of unwanted attention over the years, I think that’s why he keeps to himself and tries to stay out of the spotlight. The real lucky people are the ones who get to know him beyond that. He really is one of the best people I know, and I feel so lucky to have him as a brother.”

“I would really like to be one of those lucky people,” Magnus was earnest as he gazed at Isabelle.

“I believe you,” was all she said in response.

Alec slept on, breathing softly, unaware of the magnitude of the words exchanged between his sister and his rescuer.

-

Silence descended once again, this time, however, it was making Magnus twitchy. After the conversation he and Isabelle had just had, he felt exposed in a way that he wasn’t used to, and it made him itch, like he wanted to crawl out of his skin. He had opened himself up so many times today, to Cat, to Isabelle and to himself, he felt like an open wound, scabbing around the edges.

Magnus was just about to make his excuses to leave when there was the sound of a commotion in the hallway. Magnus and Isabelle exchanged a glance, before raised voices were heard. Isabelle sighed, rolled her eyes and stood, making her way to the door. Magnus remained seated, unsure as to what was happening and whether to get involved or not. He decided he should follow her as thoughts of Sebastian appearing raced through his mind, though Isabelle didn’t seem worried, merely irritated.

“Izzy!” was the shout that greeted her as she opened the door, and Max filled her arms as she stepped from the room.

“Hey kiddo,” she ruffled Max’s hair affectionately, before releasing him and crouching down so she was eye level with him, “Alec is sleeping right now so you gotta be quiet, but you can go in and see him,” she gestured behind her to the room, before making eye contact with her parents, who were standing silently – for once – behind Max.

“Mom, Dad,” she nodded at them in greeting, unwilling to say much more lest she unleash the wrath that she felt towards them - that it had taken them more than a day to get here, from Boston, which is less than a 4 hour drive away. What if Alec had been injured even worse? What if he had died?

She turned away from them to head back in to the room; she saw Max sitting up in the chair that she had vacated and he was chatting animatedly to Alec’s sleeping form, about the comics that he had bought last week and the new characters in them and how awesome they were and that Alec could borrow them when he woke up.

Izzy’s attention was caught by Magnus, who was leaning against the wall, behind the door, clearly giving Max space to talk to his brother, a soft smile on his face at watching the kid talk so animatedly.

“Alec is Max’s favourite sibling,” Isabelle uttered quietly so only Magnus could hear, no trace of jealousy in her voice, just stating a fact.

Magnus’ heart clenched, every detail he learned about Alexander just made him want to know more, to _want_ more.

Magnus stole his gaze from Alexander’s form, looking towards Isabelle, “Now the rest of your family have arrived, I should head out, give you guys some space.”

“Oh Magnus, don’t feel like you have to leave just because they are here. Alec could wake up any time now,” she protested.

“Most likely, and he will want to see you and his brothers and his parents, and he’s going to be feeling overwhelmed. Me being here is only going to be confusing for him, he probably doesn’t even remember that I was there when it happened. Maybe once he’s awake and coherent and has been filled in on all the events up until now, maybe then I can come back and see him?” Magnus questioned.

Isabelle looked down for a few seconds, weighing his words. Letting out a sigh she realised that his words made a lot of sense. “Ok, you’re probably right,” she paused, laughing a little at herself, “I almost forgot that you and he aren’t- “she broke off again, “I am going to ship you guys so hard! But yes, in the meantime we should probably let him get caught up with the situation, then you can come dashing back in here and sweep him off his feet,” she grinned at Magnus, crooked but genuine, and Magnus felt warmth and hope flair up inside, in the cold dark places in his soul.

-

Magnus had made his way out of the hospital, awkwardly skirting around Alec’s parents who were sitting stiffly in the hardback hospital chairs lining the hallway.

Now that he was alone again, sitting in the back of a cab headed home, his thoughts were running a mile a minute. So many feelings overtook him, the most substantial one though was the acceptance he felt from Isabelle. She barely knew him, yet she wanted Magnus and her brother to get together, she trusted Magnus to take care of him and not hurt him, and oh God how he wanted to live up to that expectation.

He decided he wanted to hold on to that feeling, to tuck it somewhere safe inside of him and let it keep him warm and sated, keeping all the dark thoughts at bay, for a while at least.

Magnus pulled out his phone to call Cat, he had promised her an update and he wanted to share the recent developments with her.

-

As always, Cat – being his number 1 fan/cheerleader – was not surprised by the revelations, of Isabelle’s words to him, and had insisted that she get to meet both Alec and Isabelle at the earliest opportunity.

Magnus smiled to himself as he ended the call, after promising to drop by for dinner one night this week, before slipping his phone back into his jacket pocket, as the cab turned onto his street.

Magnus paid the cabbie, stepped out onto the sidewalk, pulling up the collar of his jacket to protect from the chill wind that blew down the avenue.

As he walked up to the building, he didn’t notice a dark figure across the street slip into the shadows, his watchful gaze on Magnus’ retreating form.


	11. 11.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus has some downtime, before coming to a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one, a little bit of filler, just setting up what comes next :)

**Chapter 11**

It was mid-afternoon when Magnus stepped into his loft. Time had been moving so strangely for him the last few days, moving both exceedingly slowly, and neckbreakingly fast at alternate times - he almost felt like he was existing somewhere in between - his real life had faded to background noise and nothing seemed to exist outside of his thoughts or that hospital room.

Deciding it was definitely five o’clock somewhere (and close enough here, to not be frowned upon) Magnus made his way to his wet bar, pouring himself a stiff drink of whatever he put his hand on first, downing the shot and relishing the burn in the back of his throat. He poured another and repeated the action; on his empty stomach it didn’t take long for him to feel a pleasant buzz drifting through his body, making his fingertips tingle.

Getting blackout drunk probably wasn’t the best course of action, so Magnus replaced the bottle behind the bar, and made his way to his kitchen. Having some food in his stomach would probably be a good idea before he had any more to drink.

-

An hour later, settled on his couch with a bowl of steaming spaghetti bolognaise in his lap, a glass of red wine in one hand and the TV remote in the other, Magnus flipped through the channels, settling on a movie that he had seen many times before, thankful for something light hearted and fun. Dropping the remote, he began twisting forkfuls of pasta in to his mouth and finally let his mind relax, concentrating only on the pictures before him and the delicious tastes on his tongue.

-

Magnus’ meal hadn’t lasted long - he hadn’t realised just how hungry he was - or how much he needed the hearty, comforting food. He had washed it all down with several glasses of wine, before settling back into his couch cushions, warm, comfortable and relaxed.

When Magnus opened his eyes, the television was the only light in the room. Darkness had fallen outside his window, the muted lights from buildings along the street faintly ghosting into the room.

Magnus stretched, letting out a groan at the stiffness in his neck and shoulders, as he had woken up with his head slumped over the arm of the couch at an awkward angle. Shaking his head to clear the haze of his slightly drunken slumber, he carefully stretched the rest of his limbs before standing up. Collecting his dirty dishes, he headed to the kitchen to deposit them in the sink, flipping on lights as he went.

The clock on the microwave told him it was almost 8pm, again that strange sensation of existing out-with time gripped him; his days were usually so routine – almost to military standards – get up, go for a run, shower, go to work, come home, do some more work, have dinner (and a few drinks,) go to bed; lather, rinse, repeat.

This was his life, and there was comfort in the routine – a far cry from his younger, wilder days. Before Camille had gutted him, torn him in ways he hadn’t expected –nor wanted - leaving him a shell of the man he used to be. In his own eyes anyway.

He was still the same person, just… not. He was more guarded now, less carefree - a far cry from the man who had lived with wild abandon - always seeking out new experiences, new challenges. A different club and a different bed every night.

Not to say that Magnus missed those days, the older and wiser he has become, he realises how stupid and dangerous some of the things he had done in his past truly were, but at the same time, he can’t remember the last time he really took a risk, put himself out there and tried something new.

Until Alexander; he had been the first thing in a long time that had made Magnus even _want_ to take a chance…

Sighing, Magnus derailed that train of thought. Moving to the corner of the room, he grabbed his phone from the counter where it had been charging, frowning at the multiple notifications on the screen before realising with a groan that he must have nudged it on to silent mode.

He had missed several messages from Isabelle, one from Cat and one from his friend Raphael.

Quickly unlocking the screen, he swiped to Izzy’s messages first.

**_5.12pm_ ** _Hey, Alec is awake again :) He is still a little drowsy and in some pain, but he seems like his usual self! The doctors said that all his tests went well and they have little concern about any lasting brain trauma. They want to keep him in for observation for another 24 hours, and as long as his surgery wound is healing well they may even release him tomorrow!_

**_5.14pm_ ** _Also, he remembers you being there when it happened, but it’s a little fuzzy for him still. He also confirmed that it was Sebastian who attacked him. Will you come with me to the police station tomorrow to report it? And give them your statement?_

**_5.33pm_ ** _It makes me so angry that that creep is still out there somewhere. What if he does try coming after Alec again?_

**_5.35pm_ ** _Sorry, ignore that last message, that was not helpful. I just can’t help but worry you know?_

**_5.36pm_ ** _Of course you know. Nevermind._

**_7.21pm_ ** _Hey, our parents and Max have gone for the night, so it’s just me and Jace here now. Visiting hours are almost over, are you coming back tonight?_

**_7.44pm_ ** _It’s fine if you’re not. I just haven’t heard back from you all night. Are you ok?_

Magnus hit the reply button, before pausing for a moment. When he had talked to Isabelle earlier, he was going to leave Alec to come to terms with what had happened, not add himself into the mix as another complication. Fearful of what Alec’s mental state might be, or the condition the trauma may have left him in.  
But now, Isabelle once again asking him if he was coming back, Alec being his ‘usual self,’ Magnus craved to be there, satisfy his own worries and fears.

While he deliberated, he navigated to Cat’s message next;

**_6.14pm_ ** _Hey Mags, any updates? How are you doing? X_

He backed out before moving on to Raphael’s message;  
  
**_7.00pm_** _Magnus. You did not tell me about the incident yesterday, I had to find out from Ragnor. If you require my assistance, you know where to find me._

Magnus paused for a second, feeling a little guilty, firstly for not telling Raphael about the incident – to be honest, it’s not as though their relationship was the type where they called each other to tell every detail of their lives – but something as serious as this, especially in Raphael’s line of work, he probably could have looped him in earlier, and had him run some leads on Sebastian.

Officially, Raphael’s business was a small firm of private investigators. Unofficially, however, Raphael had a lot of ‘connections’ and could gain information on just about anyone or anything.

Magnus decided that giving Raphael what information he had couldn’t hurt, and quickly typed out a response;

 _Raphael, my friend, my apologies for not reaching out sooner. Needless to say I have had a lot on my mind. I would appreciate your assistance with this situation. Lunch tomorrow?_

Raphael’s succinct response came through immediately;

_La Trattoria, 1pm._

Rolling his eyes at his friend’s directness, Magnus replied in the affirmative, before flipping back to type a response to Cat’s message, before deciding that a phone call would be better, he had way too much to say for a simple text message.

“Magnus!” Cat always sounded so pleased to hear from him, it never failed to warm his heart, “you didn’t reply to my message, I hope you were catching up on some sleep!”  
  
“Hi Cat, that is exactly what I was doing. I passed out on the couch watching a movie,” he laughed softly at himself, “I did get a couple of updates from Isabelle so I thought I would fill you in.”

“All good, I hope?” she responded, judging by the sound of Magnus’ voice, he sounded upbeat.

“Yes, I believe so. He is awake, talking and sounding like himself. He remembers the incident, and vaguely that I was there, but is a little fuzzy on the details. He confirmed that it was Sebastian who had attacked him. Isabelle asked if I would go with her to the police to file a report tomorrow.”  
Magnus paused for a moment before continuing, “I also got a message from Raphael- “

“Sorry Magnus, it just came out when we were talking. Raph came over for dinner, and it came up in conversation, I didn’t think you would mind him knowing-“  
  
“It’s fine Cat,” Magnus interrupted her apology, “I should have thought to reach out to him before, I was just distracted. I’m meeting him for lunch tomorrow. He has offered to… help.”

“That man would do anything for you – you know that, right?” Cat assured Magnus,

“I know. Part of me doesn’t want to involve him, it’s not _my_ problem, but it also is. I just don’t want Sebastian to get away with this, and anything that Raphael can find to help put him away for a very long time, will be invaluable.” Magnus paused again, “Do you think I should tell Isabelle about it? Raphael’s digging may uncover skeletons in Alec’s closet too. Do you think it’s a bad idea?” Magnus was starting to doubt his decision.

“Maybe you should talk to Isabelle and Alec about it, before you speak to Raphael. Let it be their decision, not yours,” were Catarina’s wise words.

Letting out a breath, Magnus responded with a “Thanks Cat, I think that’s exactly what I’ll do. As always, you give the best advice!”

“It’s my superpower,” she chuckled, “Goodnight Magnus, take care.”

“Thanks Cat, you too,” he answered, ending the call.

Now, what to do?

-

Throwing caution to the wind, Magnus grabbed his coat, and strode out of his apartment, hailing a cab as soon as he hit the sidewalk.

Once they had pulled away from the sidewalk and navigated in to traffic, Magnus finally responded to Izzy’s messages;

_Sorry Isabelle, I was sleeping and missed your messages. I know visiting hours are technically over, but I was hoping to drop by for a moment._

It took a few moments for a reply to come through;

_Alec is sleeping again, but of course you are welcome to come by, anytime._

Magnus responded quickly;

_Glad to hear it, because I am already on my way :)_

He hit send, not even embarrassed by the fact that he had just used an emoji. Rolling his eyes at himself when he realised he was smiling like an idiot at his phone, his thoughts already at the hospital and on Alec’s recovery.


	12. 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Magnus visits while Alec is awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who is sticking this out with me, my first multi-chaptered fic, and it sure is taking me on a hell of a ride! I'd estimate we're about half way through now, things are going to get worse before they get better, but I promise (eventually) a happy ending is in store for our boys :)

**Chapter 12**

Magnus felt a sense of déjà vu as he approached the hospital for what was the 3rd – 4th? - time in the last few days. 

It didn’t take long for him to navigate his way to Alec’s room, where - once again - the hallway was deserted.

Knocking gently on the door of room 203, not wanting to make too much noise in case Alec was still sleeping, he hesitantly opened the door to peek inside when he heard no sounds of anyone moving to open it for him.

Alec looked to be sleeping peacefully, his beautiful face slack, but less pale than the last time Magnus had seen him, though the bruises on his face were still livid.

Isabelle was the only other occupant of the room, and she too seemed to be sleeping, her head resting upon her folded arms on the side of Alec’s bed.

Pausing for a moment, Magnus decided that he had come this far, and that he still wanted to talk to both siblings, so he made his way into the room and sat in the empty chair beside Alec’s bed.  
  
Isabelle knew that he was coming, so it’s not like he was an unexpected visitor, but had she told Alec that Magnus would be coming? Surely she would have relayed that message.  
  
He began to feel uneasy sitting there, his gaze flitting back and forth between the two sleeping individuals before glancing around the room. He would feel bad waking Isabelle, knowing how little she had rested over the last 2 days, but how long could he sit there waiting for her to wake up?

He didn’t have to ponder for long on his next move, when his gaze shifted again and he saw the world’s most beautiful blue eyes fixed upon him.

Magnus gulped silently, momentarily lost for words.

“Hi,” he managed to croak out.

One corner of Alec’s lips twitched up before he responded, “Hi,” in return.

Magnus opened his mouth to say something… anything… but Alec beat him to it.

“Izzy said you were coming to visit. That you’d been by a couple of times to check in on me,” Alec’s voice sounded a little rough, but was like velvet to Magnus’ ears.

Magnus glanced down, feeling a slight flush spring up under Alec’s watchful gaze.

“Um, yes.” So eloquent Magnus, he silently berated himself, “I… you…” seriously, what was wrong with him? He cleared his throat. “You gave me quite the scare,” he whispered, lamely, “I just needed to know that you were going to be ok…” he trailed off, looking back up into Alec’s eyes.

“Apparently I’m going to live, so that’s good news I guess,” Alec responded, dryly.

Magnus wasn’t sure how to respond, there was something in Alec’s tone that sounded a little…off.  
“Very good news, if you ask me,” Magnus’ smile was sincere, there was no denying he had been extremely worried about Alec.

Alec couldn’t help but reflect Magnus’ smile.

“I guess I have you to thank for that,” Alec sounded grateful, “I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t show up when you did…” a tremor seemed to ripple through him at the thought, causing him to wince, pain flaring up around his stab wound.

Magnus was immediately alert, seeing the pain cross Alec’s face “Are you ok?”

Alec blew out a quick breath, breathing in slowly through his nose, “Yeah, just jostled my stitches a little.”

“Is there anyth- “Magnus started before being cut off.

“I’m fine Magnus,” Alec’s response was terse. He quickly realised just how short he had sounded, “Sorry,” he apologised, “I’m just not used to everyone fussing over me. Normally I’m the one worrying about everyone else,” he closed his eyes briefly, before tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling tiles.

“It’s ok. I’m kind of at a loss here too. I don’t even know you, yet here I am, sitting at your bedside, wanting you to be okay….” Magnus wasn’t sure what he was really trying to say.

He carried on talking when Alec didn’t respond, “What are you going to do about Sebastian?”  
  
Alec’s face tightened when Magnus said that name, his head snapping in Magnus’ direction, fear and confusion and some other unnamed emotion clear in his eyes.

“Isabelle mentioned that you had dated him up until recently, I’m sorry… that this happened to you. I will give a statement to the police, and anything else that I can do to help to get him locked up so he can’t hurt you or anyone ever again,” Magnus words became more impassioned as he spoke.

Magnus could’ve sworn that Alec’s eyes showed a glimmer of gratitude – and perhaps relief - at his words. They also seemed to show a hint of humour?

Magnus realised why when he glanced down and realised he was holding Alec’s hand between both of his, he must’ve gripped it during his little speech. Clearing his throat and dropping his eyes further, he quickly released Alec’s hand, drawing back a little.

“Thank you Magnus, really, for everything, “Alec briefly squeezed Magnus’s forearm – the only part of him still within reach – trying to express his gratitude.

They gazed at each other in silence for a few minutes – this was something they had done many times before and Magnus found some form of comfort in it, Alec had such expressive eyes, Magnus could get lost in them for days.

He didn’t get that chance, however, as Isabelle had woken up and realised that Magnus was there. “Magnus! You made it,” there was a smile in her voice, as well as upon her face, as she reached over to pat the back of Magnus’ hand in greeting. She also realised that Alec was awake, but she hadn’t heard any voices as she had woken up – had they just been sitting there staring at each other? She managed to keep the smirk from her face as she stood up to stretch, before excusing herself to the washroom.

Alec knew that Izzy had left them alone on purpose; she had not been subtle when she had been filling him in on Magnus’ part in stopping the attack, and she had waxed lyrical about what a kind, supportive person he was, not to mention how good-looking - as if Alec didn’t have eyes!

Magnus broke the awkward silence that had descended since Izzy’s not-so-subtle departure - he knew exactly what she was doing, and mentally rolled his eyes at her, while silently thanking her for the alone time – “I have a confession to make,” he blurted out before he lost his nerve.

Alec looked at Magnus with wide eyes, not entirely sure what Magnus would have to confess, especially to him. “Ok…?” Alec’s response was hesitant, but hopefully encouraging.

Magnus could feel his cheeks turning pink, and once again berated himself for acting like a teenager with a crush whenever Alec was nearby, “I had been working up the courage for weeks to ask for your number,” he glanced briefly at Alec to gauge his reaction, before continuing “I was going to ask you yesterday morning.”

Alec’s mouth formed a silent oh, before a faint flush crossed his cheeks too, he looked down shyly, before gazing up at Magnus, “I was kind of hoping you would ask, I hadn’t quite gotten up the courage yet. I kind of thought you were out of my league to be honest.”

Magnus’ jaw-dropped at that statement. _Him_ out of _Alec’s_ league _?_ Alexander who was tall, athletic and _gorgeous_ , with the most dazzling blue eyes he had ever seen?

“You always looked so put-together, with your fitted designer gear, your perfect hair, and the way you move…” Alec broke off again, feeling like he was giving too much away about how much time he had spent staring at and studying Magnus.

Magnus felt his cheeks warm at Alec’s words. This was getting ridiculous, clearly they were both enamoured with the other, so Magnus dredged up that sliver of courage that he had worked up to on Friday morning, and asked “Maybe - when you are feeling up to it - you and I can grab dinner some time?”

“I think I’d like that,” Alec’s voice was soft, but his eyes were shining and he wore a face-splitting smile that was mirrored on Magnus’ own face.

They were still grinning like idiots when Isabelle returned to the room a few moments later.

“Did I interrupt something?” she said with a raised eyebrow, looking at the two grinning idiots in the room.

Alec cleared his throat before answering, “No, Magnus and I were just talking.” The smile on his face never wavered.

“Mmmhmm,” was her disbelieving response, but she let it go, knowing she would find out eventually.

Magnus could sit all day and look at Alec’s face, his smile seemed to warm him from the inside in the most wonderful way. As much as he didn’t want to, Magnus knew he needed to discuss the reason for his visit so late in the day.

“There was actually something I wanted to talk to both of you about,” Magnus voiced after Isabelle had made herself comfortable again.

Alec’s smile disappeared in an instant when he heard the seriousness of Magnus’ tone, Isabelle caught onto it too and her forehead creased into a frown.

“That sounds grave,” Isabelle intoned, but gestured for him to proceed.

“Well…I have a friend who is a PI, who has offered his assistance with this… situation,” both Alec and Isabelle looked slightly confused.

“We are going to the police tomorrow though, right? To file a report, and give them your statement? Right??” Isabelle questioned.

“Yes, most definitely we are doing that. However…” Magnus paused, worried that he had been overthinking again.  
  
He glanced at Isabelle, not knowing how much she had revealed to Alec about reading the messages from Sebastian, or if she had voiced their concerns to Alec about Sebastian coming back to finish the job.

“If Sebastian is smart, he will have gone into hiding. He knows Alec survived and will be able to identify him. I don’t know what resources he has, he may have changed his appearance, fled the country…” Magnus trailed off, looking between Alec and Isabelle, “I figured having a guy working the case, someone who has resources and doesn’t necessarily have to stick to the confines of the law… That it wouldn’t hurt to have someone on our side investigating. Do you think the NYPD is going to do everything in their power to bring Sebastian in?” He paused again. “Maybe it’s just me who doesn’t trust in their capabilities,” Magnus finished with a shrug.  
  
Izzy and Alec exchanged a glance, but Magnus couldn’t tell what either of them was thinking. He really wanted their ok to give Raphael the go-ahead, as he had the feeling that even without it, Raphael would do some digging anyway…

“I’ll be honest, Raphael is like a brother to me, and he may look into this without me even asking him to. I just wanted to talk to you about it, as sometimes there is collateral damage when you start taking apart someone’s life,” he stared into Alec’s eyes, fearful for him most of all. Whatever had happened between him and Sebastian that had culminated in a knife-attack in broad daylight, probably wasn’t the first time violence had been perpetrated against him, and Magnus didn’t want Alec’s past to be hung out for all to see.

There was hesitation in Alec’s eyes, a flash of fear glanced through before hardening in to resolve, “Do it. I want that bastard to pay,” Alec’s words were forced through gritted teeth.

Isabelle looked on, pride showing on her face at her brothers determination. There was no denying the fact that she also wanted the bastard to pay.

Relieved that Alec had acquiesced, Magnus let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding.

Knowing that the hour was getting late, but really not wanting to, he bid a goodnight to Alec and Isabelle, promising to keep them updated on his meeting with Raphael, and promising to be ready in the morning when Isabelle was ready to go to the police station.

Making his way out of the hospital, his feet carrying him automatically to the exit, he paused as he stepped out of the front doors, when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

It was late - after 10pm - unsure as to who was texting so late, he couldn’t wipe the grin from his face when he read the message from an unknown contact;

_Now you have my number x_

His steps were suddenly lighter and he felt like he would float away, such a simple thing but it made him feel giddy with happiness, with hope.

He wanted the feeling to last forever.

-

It lasted until he got home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, angst ahead...


	13. 13.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus' home is vandalized. Raphael helps his friend. Magnus and Izzy finally report the attack to the police.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment! I really appreciate it, glad that most of you are enjoying the story so far! I'm actually amazed at myself that I have been able to keep updating fairly regularly, long may that continue! Your feedback definitely motivates me to keep writing :)
> 
> As always, I don't own these characters, just enjoy playing with them!
> 
> Un-beta'd. I feel like I've written and re-written this chapter so much, I don't even notice any mistakes anymore :|

**Chapter 13**

As Magnus approached his front door he noticed it was ajar, he hesitated, going over in his mind his last movements before he had left earlier. He had stepped out in a hurry, and may have forgotten to lock his door - which he knows was stupid - but he had definitely closed it, he remembers hearing the reverberation of it closing behind him as he strode down the hallway.

Inching closer, trying not to make a sound, he listened intently for any sounds of movement, if someone had broken in they could still be inside…

Hearing nothing to concern him, he placed his hand flat on the door and slowly pushed it open.

The sight that greeted him broke his heart. His place had been _trashed._ He felt tears prickle his eyes, as he slowly inched his way inside.  
  
Paintings had been slashed and ripped from the walls, furniture toppled over, everything breakable had been smashed – how had no one heard anything and called the cops? He knew the soundproofing on his apartment was great, one of the reasons he loved it so much was the fact that he rarely, if ever, could hear his neighbours. But the _destruction_ _–_ how did it not wake the whole neighbourhood?

The further he walked into his apartment, the more he realised that nothing had been spared. Every room had been torn apart, though it didn’t seem like anything had been taken. All his valuables were still there, just destroyed. His TV had been smashed, his laptop was on the floor, split in two; even the kitchen appliances hadn’t been spared. Every piece of glass smashed.

Magnus was reeling. He had only been gone for a couple of hours. This wasn’t a robbery… had he been targeted? Someone must have known he was gone… or they had come for him and when he wasn’t here they had destroyed all his stuff instead…

His breathing was becoming panicked; the more he saw and the more his thoughts ran amok the more terrified he felt. Magnus ran back to his front door, closing and locking it, hoping he wasn’t locking himself inside with a maniac. He pulled out his phone and called Raphael.

“Magnus,” there was no inflection, no question in Raphael’s tone, just his name.

“Raph, someone broke in and trashed my place. It’s… a mess. Everything is destroyed,” Magnus panted, doing nothing to conceal the fear and panic in his voice.

“I’ll be there in 10 minutes,” Raphael said before hanging up.

Magnus stood looking around at destruction of his home - his haven - before sliding to the floor and sobbing.

-

True to his word, Raphael was there 10 minutes later.

“Magnus? It’s me,” he said, knocking lightly on Magnus’ door.  
  
Magnus hadn’t moved from where he had sunk to the floor, back leaning against the front door. Standing quickly, he looked through the peep hole, before opening the door to Raphael.

Raphael stood there sombre as ever, though Magnus would swear that he saw Raphael’s demeanour waver for a split-second when he took in Magnus’ appearance (God only knows how bad he looked right now) and then the chaos surrounding him.

Raphael pushed his way inside, closing the door abruptly behind him. “¡Dios mío! Who would have done this?”  
  
“I don’t know Raph, that’s what I need you to find out,” Magnus felt dazed, like he was watching the scene from afar.  
  
“Did you call the cops?” Raphael pressed.  
  
“Not yet, I was panicking and I needed someone I trust.” Magnus dropped his head, shaking it to try to get everything back in to focus.  
  
Raphael walked further into the apartment, studying the damage done. Whoever did this was seriously one sick fuck.

When he reached Magnus bedroom, he saw curtains torn down, even his bedding had been slashed, and a large pile of clothing on the floor in a wet heap, on closer inspection he determined that someone had pissed on them.

This was definitely personal.

“You need to call the cops, get them here to take any evidence. I’m going to get some of my guys on this right away. Do you have somewhere you can stay tonight?” Raphael sounded all business.

“It’s too late to call Cat, I’ll just check into a hotel tonight,” Magnus responded dazedly.

At Raphael’s glare, he continued, “Unless you’re offering me to come stay with you? It’s not like I have an abundance of people to call upon.”

Raphael rolled his eyes, “One night, just so I can keep an eye on you until we figure out who did this.”  
  
-

The police showed up fairly quickly, Raphael making a hasty exit beforehand, it took them over an hour to examine the scene and take Magnus’ statement.

They didn’t have any leads at this point, though they - as Raphael did – also suspected it was a targeted attack, but Magnus had no enemies, as far as he was aware, and had not received any threats or noticed anything suspicious or out of the ordinary.  
  
One of the uniformed officers offered to drop Magnus off at a safe location, so he asked them to drop him around the corner from Raphael’s place.

He had texted Raphael to let him know he was on the way, and by the time he arrived it was almost 1am.  
  
-  
  
Raphael got Magnus settled in his guest room, with a change of clothes, some towels and a toothbrush.

“It’s the best I can do,” Raphael said with a shrug as Magnus had picked up the clothing that had been laid out for him, a plain black t-shirt, and a pair of dark grey sweatpants, that both looked to be 2 sizes too big. Magnus and Raphael were around the same height, but Raphael was a little stockier.  
  
“Thanks Raph, I mean it,” Magnus didn’t even care about the clothes – and really that was a first for Magnus – he was too overwhelmed by the last couple of hours, and just thankful that he had somewhere safe to rest his head. Magnus would’ve hugged Raphael, but Raph was most decidedly not a hugger.

Raphael nodded at Magnus in acknowledgement, before turning around and closing the door on his way out, leaving Magnus alone.

-

Magnus barely slept that night, and when he did it was not restful, thoughts and images flooding his mind, re-living the moment of walking into his apartment; thoughts of someone lying in wait to attack him.

He felt so violated, someone had gone into his home, his safe place – somewhere that he had worked so hard to gain, where he had regained his independence - and they had perpetrated unspeakable acts. Pissing all over his clothes? Who does that? It was that piece of information that stuck with him most; anyone who knows Magnus, knows how much pride he takes in his appearance, and how much time he spends curating his wardrobe, sometimes with bespoke pieces – that was what made this feel like a personal attack. Not to say that the whole thing wasn’t personal – his home, his stuff destroyed, but that one detail, urinating on his beloved clothes, the attire that made up his public self – that was what hurt most, that someone knew that detail about him, knew that that was a stab right through the heart. 

  
-

  
When daylight finally began peeking through the window-frame, Magnus gave up his pretence of trying to sleep. Pushing back the covers, he sat up, stretching out his limbs, before reaching for the clothes that Raphael had left out for him, having slept only in his boxer briefs. He pulled the t-shirt over his head, frowning at how loose the material was on his body, before grabbing the bottom hem and twisting it into a knot at his lower back, giving it a slightly cropped look, but making it sit much closer to his frame.

Pulling on the sweatpants, they almost appeared like pantaloons, so he rolled over the waistband a couple of times, constricting some of the excess material, and making them seem less large on him.

Shuffling his way to the door, he scooped up the toothbrush and towel, and made his way to the bathroom.

Feeling a little more refreshed, Magnus wandered through the house, making his way to the kitchen, surprised to find Raphael sitting at the table drinking coffee.

“You’re up early,” Magnus commented.

Raphael raised an eyebrow in response, as if to say ‘and how do you know what time I usually get up?’

Magnus ignored him and walked over to the carafe, pouring himself a cup of coffee, “Any leads?” he asked hesitantly, stirring his beverage as he made his way to join Raphael at the kitchen table.

“Nothing yet. I’ve got a couple of guys on it, I’ll keep you updated,” Raphael replied, he paused, studying Magnus, “Care to tell me more about this incident on Friday?”

Magnus sighed heavily, before looking up at Raphael, “How much do you know? What did Cat and Ragnor tell you?”  
  
“Just that you were running in the park, and the guy you’ve been infatuated with for a month-“

“Hey!” Magnus cut in.

Raphael raised an eyebrow at him, “Their words, not mine,” before continuing, “You saw him get stabbed, and then chased the guy away. You got a good look at him so you would recognise him again. And that he was your guy’s ex,” Raphael finished.

“That about sums it up,” Magnus murmured, feeling his stomach flutter when Raphael referred to Alec as ‘his guy.’

“No other details?” Raphael queried.

“He sent a message to Alec, afterwards, telling him that he won’t be ‘so lucky’ next time. His name is Sebastian, and I get the feeling he was abusive towards Alec during their relationship, though that part I can’t confirm, just a hunch I have,” Magnus really, really hated Sebastian.

“Do you think this Sebastian was the one who trashed your place?” Raphael asked.

Magnus stopped short. Could it have been? The thought hadn’t crossed his mind. But, if Sebastian had been stalking Alec as Isabelle had inferred, maybe he had seen Alec and him at the park before that day? Not that they had ever talked. And Sebastian definitely saw Magnus the day Alec was stabbed, he would’ve got a good look at him, and he had been the one to stop Sebastian being able to continue his attack on Alec.

“Oh fuck,” Magnus dropped his head into his hands, an all too familiar gesture of late. It did kind of make sense, it was personal - for Sebastian. Had his intention been to hurt Magnus too? Had Magnus been lucky that he was not home? Or had this been a warning? His mind was reeling.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Raphael broke in to Magnus’ thoughts, “I already put some feelers out, but now I have a name and some more information, it shouldn’t take long to figure out and find this guy,” Raphael hesitated for a second, “Magnus? You know we may find out some things about your guy… some things you may not want to know.”

Magnus nodded, head still in his hands, “I know. I already told Alexander that I was going to ask you to help, he is ok with you digging in - whatever it takes to find Sebastian. Just… I don’t want you to tell me any of the things you may find, things that would be better coming from Alexander. I want him to tell me in his own time, is that fair?”

Raphael nodded his understanding. “What are you going to do today? As much as I would hope you would stay here and stay safe, I know that you will not.”

“I’m going to stick with my original plan, meet up with Isabelle. Go to the police and make a report about Sebastian,” Magnus had already decided that he was not going to hide today. He wasn’t going to let what happened change his way of life, as much as he was still afraid, his nerves on edge.

His biggest dilemma right now was – should he tell Alexander and Isabelle about what had happened to his apartment? Especially if Raphael’s suspicion was correct and Sebastian had been behind it. Surely it would be better that they knew? That Alexander might still be in danger after all.

Raphael excused himself, heading to his office with a promise to fill Magnus in with any updates.

Magnus made his way back to the guest room, seeking out his phone. It was approaching 7am, so he figured he would have enough time to shower and have some breakfast before reaching out to Isabelle to arrange their meet up.

His phone showed no messages, to which he was relieved, and he decided he should call Cat and fill her in on what had happened last night, his heart clenching at the thought of having to relive the moment over again.

He decided he would give her a quick call and invite himself over for breakfast, or brunch – tell Cat and Ragnor in person.

Shucking his clothes and stepping under the spray of the shower, he let himself relax for a moment, just enjoying the heat and letting the water pound his tired body.

Stepping out and towelling himself off, he threw Raphael’s clothing back on, wondering if it would be an invasion of Raphael’s privacy to dig through his closet and find something a little less casual? Though, he would still have the same problem, of nothing fitting him.

Deciding he would make do with what he had, he stepped from the room, picking up his phone that had he had placed beside the sink, shooting a quick message to Isabelle, hoping it wasn’t too early.

_Good morning dear Isabelle, just wanted to confirm a time for meeting this morning? Did you want to meet at the police station or meet up first and go together?_

It didn’t take long for Isabelle to respond, Magnus had just finished spreading a thick layer of butter on his hot toast, and taken a bite when his phone signalled a message,

**_7.41 am_ ** _Good morning Magnus ! Jace and Clary are on their way here now, and Mom, Dad & Max will be here at some point too, so Alec won’t be alone. I was hoping to head home for a shower as soon as Jace and Clary get here, and maybe I can meet you there? Say 9.30?_

That would give Magnus plenty of time to prepare himself,

_Sounds perfect dear, I will see you then._

__-

At 9.20, Magnus stood outside NYPD’s 19th precinct, listening to the sounds of cars honking, and the smell of exhaust and garbage assaulting his senses, nerves like acid burning in his stomach.  
  
Several minutes later he saw Isabelle rushing down the street towards him, and felt relief at the welcome sight, her face – though tight and drawn - was immediately comforting to him.

She smiled softly as she reached him, pulling him into a hug, before glancing down at him, confused by the clothing that clearly wasn’t his as it didn’t fit well, but choosing to say nothing about it.

“Magnus, thank you so much for being here,” she sounded so relieved to not be here on her own, even though Magnus was really the one that needed to here as he was the eyewitness.

He smiled tightly back at her, not looking forward to having to deal with the police, for the second time in the last 12 hours, but knowing he would do whatever it takes to get justice for Alexander.

Isabelle reached for his hand, squeezing it tightly for a moment, and without letting go turned and pulled him along beside her as they headed up the steps into the building.

-

Magnus hated the formality and the red tape that tied up the criminal justice system. It wasn’t enough that Magnus had witnessed a violent crime; there needed to be statements and investigations and more eyewitnesses to come forward and corroborate. They would send an officer to the hospital to take Alec’s statement, then petition the hospital for his medical records to confirm the injuries he sustained. They would bring Sebastian – whose last name was Verlac, as Izzy had supplied – in for questioning. Izzy had also provided them with his last known address and place of work, information no doubt passed on from Alec.

Magnus made a mental note of the information, which he would forward to Raphael as soon as they were out of the station.

  
-  
  
Isabelle thanked him once again, excusing herself to head back to the hospital, but not before making Magnus promise to stop by soon. Apparently her brother had been starry-eyed all morning, and she hinted that was Magnus’ doing, with a friendly nudge.

Magnus felt a swarm of butterflies flutter in his stomach at her words, and assured her that he would definitely be visiting, but that he had a prior engagement with some friends, so it would be several hours before he was able to be there.

Isabelle pulled him into another tight hug, “I’m so glad you were there, and that you are you,” were Isabelle’ parting words.

And then she was gone, bustling back down the street the same way she had come.

Magnus departed in the opposite direction, hailing a cab to take him to Ragnor and Catarina’s place.

On the way there, he text Raphael with the information he had garnered from Isabelle, knowing that he may already have figured out most of it, but wanting to feel like he was helping in some way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would really like to go back and name each chapter, instead of just numbering them, but I am not good at titles (or summaries! haha) Even the story title was just a working title. Open to any and all suggestions, if anyone has any! I will credit any I choose to use :)


	14. 14.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brunch with Cat and Ragnor. The police come to the hospital for Alec's statement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone sticking this out with me - I am aware that I can be a little verbose at times, and I feel like I'm maybe putting in too much detail sometimes? Hopefully it's not distracting too much from the plot. I'm just really enjoying exploring and developing these characters :)
> 
> And I know I promised more action coming soon, but I feel like Sebastian is so crafty that everything may end up happening 'offscreen' and all we are going to see is the after effects and everyone dealing with the fallout... 
> 
> Also, as you will have noticed my version of Magnus is definitely an overthinker/worrier. Camille did that to him. But already Alec's influence is allowing him to make some impulsive decisions and open up more to the people around him

**Chapter 14**

Cat’s eyebrow raised in query as she opened the door and took in Magnus’ state of dress, but immediately pulled him into a hug in greeting.

“Hi Cat,” the smile clear in his voice, even as Cat squeezed him to her, “how are you dear?”

“Good morning Magnus, come on in! Ragnor has already made a start to brunch, so I am staying far away from the kitchen,” she replied, laughing.

She stepped aside to allow Magnus entry, taking his coat – the one thing he was wearing that actually looked like it belonged to him.

“Are you going to tell me whose clothes you are wearing? As they clearly do not belong to you,” she asked, teasingly, before frowning when she saw Magnus still at the question.

“All in due time, my dear,” Magnus responded softly, trying his best to smile through the dread that had suddenly gripped him.

Cat reached out and placed an arm around Magnus’s shoulders, silently supporting him, and guided him through to the dining room.

She pushed him towards one of the chairs, and as he was sitting down he heard an excited “Uncle Magnus,” screeched before he had a lap full of an excitable 3 year old.

“Good morning sweet pea,” he responded, dropping a kiss on top of Madzie’s head, before hugging her tightly. She seemed happy to make herself comfortable and snuggled into Magnus, arms wrapped as far as they could go around his shoulders.

Magnus looked up to see Cat looking down at them, smiling widely with tears shining in her eyes, he raised his brows in question.

“Ugh, hormones,” she grunted with a roll of her eyes, but the smile didn’t fade, watching 2 of her favourite people in the whole world, wrapped around each other.

Ragnor appeared then, two huge plates in his hands, loaded with bacon, eggs, sausages, toast and homefries, placing them down on the table, before disappearing and quickly returning with a carafe of coffee and a teapot and added them to the table.

“Magnus,” he acknowledged with a nod of his head, “what a lovely idea to have brunch this morning, though I would appreciate more than 2 hours of notice next time,” he finished staring levelly at Magnus, though he couldn’t hide the glint of amusement in his eyes.

“My apologies for forcing my company on you,” Magnus responded dryly, before turning serious, “I just had something important to tell you and I didn’t want to do it over the phone.”  
  
Cat and Ragnor shared a look, before Cat moved over to Magnus, “Come on Madzie, do you wanna watch Frozen?” Madzie squealed in delight as Cat picked her up, and carried her from the room.

Cat returned a moment later, the sounds of a Disney movie drifting softly through from the other room.

“Magnus? Is everything ok?” Cat began, taking her seat at the table.

Magnus knew this part was going to be hard, he knew how much they both cared about him and had been worrying since Friday, this was only going to make things worse, but he had to tell them.

“I went back to the hospital last night, after we talked,” he began, looking at Cat, “to talk to Alexander and Isabelle about having Raphael do some investigating.”

“They didn’t want him to?” Cat asked, thinking this was the reason for Magnus’ visit.

“No, they- well, Alec, gave his consent. We talked,” Magnus’ face broke into a faint smile at the memory, “I got his number and asked him out on a date,” the warm feeling came over him again, God there was just something about Alexander…

He cleared his throat before continuing, “When I got home from the hospital… Someone had broken into my place-”He heard Cat make a noise of surprise and cover her mouth with her hand, but he continued on, “it was trashed. Everything was destroyed, and I mean _everything-_ “ Magnus broke off, feeling his breath catch as the panic he had felt overwhelmed him “I called Raphael, he came over and stayed with me until the police came. Someone had piled up all my clothes on the floor and _pissed_ on them. Can you believe that?”

Cat and Ragnor were staring at him with matching looks of shock and horror, “Oh Mags,” Cat was up and around the table holding him tightly, before he had even registered that she had moved.  
  
“I stayed with Raph last night, these are his clothes, Cat – I have nothing left… Everything is destroyed-“ the magnitude of the situation seemed to hit him in full force at that point and his voice broke, catching on a sob. Cat held him, stroking his hair as he cried silently, pouring all the love she felt for him into every touch.

After a few moments, he calmed himself enough to lean back and look at them both, “My original plan was to ask to stay here with you guys, but recent information has revealed that Sebastian may have been the culprit, and I fear I am putting you all at enough risk just by being here now.”  
  
“Oh Magnus, don’t worry about us. Let us worry about you for once,” Ragnor’s calm, steady voice was always so reassuring, but right now Magnus couldn’t find it in himself to heed his words.

“I am going to go back to the hospital, I’m just not sure how to tell Alexander and Isabelle. I don’t want him to feel guilty for me potentially being in Sebastian’s crosshairs. But, I think he is still in danger, and I can’t not tell him!” He finished, changing the subject, not wanting to fight with them, knowing they would be more than willing to let him stay for a few nights, but knowing that he would not put them in what could potentially be a dangerous situation.

  
-

Magnus stayed for an hour with Cat and Ragnor, picking away at the food Ragnor had made, not wanting to seem ungrateful, but without much of an appetite to speak of.

They managed to keep the conversation relatively light, talking a little about work, about the new baby that would be joining them soon, about Madzie starting pre-K in the fall, but Magnus could still feel the weight of their concern pressing down on him. He thanked them once again for being there for him, leaving them with a tight hug and a promise to call if he needed anything.

  
-

  
Magnus had messaged Alexander earlier to let him know he was planning on dropping by to visit him. He had his number now, he may as well use it, he had thought to himself, smiling.

_Good day Alexander, I hope you are not too tired out from all your visitors that you can’t handle one more?_

Magnus had paused, weighing his words; he was making it clear he wanted to visit, without forcing the issue, while also checking in on Alexander’s current condition. That was good, right? He had hit send before he could over-analyse any further.

Magnus was a little disappointed that he had not received a response, but figured there was many reasons possible for that, the man was still in hospital after all.

He had decided to reach out to Izzy, knowing that she would be back at the hospital by now, and would gauge the response from her;

_Hello Isabelle, I was hoping to make a visit, if that is amenable? I don’t want to overwhelm as I know Alexander had a lot of visitors this morning._

Twenty minutes later, and still no response from Isabelle, someone who always responded within minutes, his stomach tightened, his thoughts taking him to bad places. Had something happened with Alexander? Had his condition deteriorated?  
  
He had already made the decision that he was going to the hospital no matter what, he had just wanted to give them a heads up that he was coming, so that’s exactly what he did. He hailed a cab, climbing inside and telling the driver where to take him.

-

As he approached the hallway, things became a little clearer; pretty much all of Alexander’s family and friends were either sitting or standing in the hallway outside his room, and he saw a uniformed police officer talking to Jace, who was standing a little apart from everyone else.

“Magnus!” It was Clary who had noticed him approach, and broke away from the rest of the group to walk towards him, “Hey, Izzy told us what you did this morning. The police showed up almost an hour ago and have been grilling Alec this whole time,” she explained.

“Oh, that’s good. They’re reacting to it and doing something at least,” he replied bitterly, before catching a strange look in Clary’s eye.

She gestured for him to lean in closer, as he towered over her, so he brought his head down closer to hers, “I may have overheard something,” she began in a conspirational whisper, “I don’t want everyone to hear, but I thought you should know,” Magnus didn’t like where this was going, “It sounds like he – Sebastian – is known to the police, like maybe he’s done something like this before.”

This news wasn’t surprising to Magnus, knowing what he did about Sebastian so far, but it still stabbed him with shard of fear; what else had this maniac done to put himself on the police’s radar? Had he been locked up before? So many questions filled his head. The one that popped out however was “Where’s Izzy?”

“She’s in with Alec, refused to leave his side,” Clary replied with smile. That sounded just like Isabelle.

“Ok,” Magnus sighed with relief, “I was getting worried, as neither she nor Alexander had been responding to my messages.”

“Hopefully they’ll be done soon,” she replied with an optimistic smile, patting him gently on the arm.

Magnus had one more question, “Are they talking to all of you? Or just Jace?” he nodded his head in the direction where Jace was still talking to the officer.

“Honestly, I’m not sure they wanted to talk to any of us, just Alec, but Jace had to get in a word,” she rolled her eyes, “He’s just telling them what a dirtbag he think Sebastian is, and any other details about him that they could find useful I guess,” she finished with a shrug.

Now that Magnus was here, and his 2 safety nets were otherwise occupied, he suddenly felt like a fish out of water. He had met Clary, Simon and Jace briefly, and was comfortable enough interacting with them, however he had not met or been introduced to the rest of Alexander’s family, and now he could feel the weight of an unfamiliar gaze bearing down on him.

A quick glance confirmed Alexander’s mother was watching him guardedly as he stood with Clary.

“Jace’s mom – how is she?” he asked Clary in a low voice.

Clary looked back over her shoulder, seeing Maryse glance away at being caught looking, she turned back to Magnus with a small smile on her face, “It takes Maryse a while to warm up to anyone, Jace and I have been together almost 2 years and sometimes I still don’t think she likes me,” she laughed softly, “she comes across as tough, but she really does love her kids, and she can definitely be over-protective at times.”

Magnus could understand that – that’s what parents were supposed to do, love and protect their children - but it didn’t seem to add up with Isabelle’s reaction when they had arrived at the hospital the day before. Izzy had barely acknowledged or interacted with them once they had gotten there.

Clary made her way back over to the rest of the group, while Magnus took a seat a little ways away from where they all sat.

A short time later, Magnus became aware of a presence hovering nearby.

“Are you Alec’s boyfriend?” were the words that accompanied two small feet appearing in his view as he stared down at the tiled floor. Magnus’ head came up quickly, and he registered that it was Alexander’s youngest brother, Max, who had addressed him.

“Hello, my name is Magnus, and I’m a friend of your brothers,” Magnus acknowledged, “You must be Max?”

“You were here yesterday when we got here. I don’t remember Alec mentioning you before,” Max was inquisitive for sure.

“We only met recently, I…” Magnus paused for a second, unsure of how much Max knew about the details of the attack and Alec’s injuries, “I was the one who called the ambulance when he got hurt.”

Before he could register the movement, he was suddenly engulfed – small arms wrapping around him, “Thank you for saving my brother,” the voice sounded small and tremulous, and before Magnus could even react Max was gone, returning to the rest of the family.

Just then, the door to Alec’s room opened and the police officer who had been taking Alec’s statement emerged, nodding to his partner, together they turned and made their way down the hallway towards the exit.

Isabelle came out a moment later, her face looking pinched; that had obviously been an unpleasant experience, and Magnus briefly wondered how much detail the police had probed out of Alexander about his relationship with Sebastien, stomach churning at the thought.

Isabelle moved over to the rest of the group, “That was rough on him, if you want to go sit with him that’s fine, just… don’t expect too much from him right now. Just be there and support him, please?” Isabelle turned away, heading down the hallway in the direction Magnus sat, not realising that he was there until he stood up as she approached, “Hey” she said, once she had registered his presence, immediately grabbing him for a hug, “I was just heading for some fresh air, walk with me?”

Magnus nodded against the top of her head, holding her for a moment longer, before she pulled away.

“Are you ok?” he asked, as they walked further down the hallway, away from the family.

“Yeah,” she puffed out a breath, “that was rough. The questions they asked,” she shook her head, “I knew it hadn’t been good, just reading the messages on Alec’s phone, I figured he was a bit of a psycho, but Jesus…”she stopped, leaning against the nearest wall.

“Here, come this way” Magnus grabbed her hand, pulling her from the wall, and towards a door that he knew led out to an open space, mostly where people would sneak out for a smoke, but was currently deserted, and motioned her to sit on a nearby bench.

“Magnus, the things he did…” Isabelle breathed out, “did to Alec, I… my poor brother, I knew something was wrong, I just didn’t know _how_ wrong,” she bit back a sob, but the tears started to flow anyway.

Magnus could feel his heart freeze within his chest, so that confirmed the suspicions he had about Sebastian hurting Alec. What Magnus didn’t know was how he had hurt him - whether it was physical, emotional, mental, or worse all three - and how bad, but he knew it was not Isabelle’s place to tell him. That wasn’t fair to Alexander.

However, he had the feeling that Isabelle would not be telling the rest of the family what she’d heard, and needed someone to open up to. Magnus was torn, he wanted to support Isabelle, but he wanted to protect Alexander’s privacy.

“That must’ve been hard to hear, but your brother is strong, he survived – both the relationship and the aftermath. He’ll be ok,” Magnus tried to reassure, rubbing his hand soothingly on her shoulder.

“I know, I just hate that I couldn’t protect him,” Isabelle’s voice was tremulous.

“That’s his job, remember?” Trying for humour, but falling flat. Knowing that is exactly what Alexander was trying to do by not telling them about Sebastian’s abuse.

They fell into silence, Isabelle’s tears slowly stopped falling.

“What now?” Magnus queried.  
  
“We wait for the police to do their job; find him and lock him up,” was Isabelle’s determined response, “Any word from your friend?”  
  
“Nothing yet, I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything,” Magnus assured her, before continuing, “I do have something I wanted to talk to you about – I was going to tell you both, but I’m not sure if either of you are up to hearing it after what you just went through.”

“Well now you have to tell me,” Isabelle replied, though she sounded wary.

“When I got home from the hospital last night, someone had broken in to my apartment and trashed everything, and I mean _everything_ ,” Magnus voice was soft, hesitant, not wanting to burden her with the information, but knowing that it was necessary.

“Oh Magnus! I’m so sorry, that’s terrible,” Isabelle looked genuinely upset for him.  
  
Magnus paused, “I think it might have been Sebastian,” he finished, letting the words hang in the air.

Isabelle’s mouth fell open “Oh god. But…” she paused, Magnus could see her mind working, before looking back at Magnus, “one of the messages he sent did mention you, not directly, but Sebastian had noticed your flirting with Alec. Not to mention he would have seen you on Friday when you stopped him…Oh god Magnus, I’m so sorry,” she brought both hands up to cover her mouth, her mind racing, ”What do we do now?”

Magnus told her that Raphael was the one who had suspected Sebastian, and had combined that knowledge with the information he had about Alec’s attack, and was already working on the case. Still, he found himself unable to answer her question.

What do we do now?


End file.
